Photo Credit: Benjamin Rascoe (via Unsplash)
Originally, St. Patrick’s Day was an incredibly religious celebration or was treated as one before the drinking and merriment started in earnest. You can access a sermon from the Memorial University library by a very zealous Rev. Doctor Howley at the Cathedral in St. John’s (Howley, 1869). Canada’s province, Newfoundland and Labrador, recognize St. Patrick’s day as a public holiday due to their historical connection to Ireland. At least one attempt has been made by another province to have it recognized as a civic holiday and was turned down because of its connection to religious practices (Janice Tibbetts, 2004). However, for most, it is an extremely secular holiday, which can be seen especially in celebrations all over the world.
Enough green dye is dumped into the Chicago River every year to turn it green for several hours. Very specifically, the emerald green that has become associated with St. Patrick’s Day. The story of how this started is that it was not an accident. A plumber had spilled the dye on themselves to check for leaks in the pipes, and the manager noticed it was the perfect shade for the upcoming celebrations. Being a little too zealous with the idea, they ended up using enough dye to turn the river green for an entire week. The tradition was kept with far less vegetable-based dye (Langan, 2022).
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, they have El Dia de San Patricio, a mixing of cultures in part due to Buenos Aires’ sizeable Irish population. The parade is one of the largest in the world. Interestingly, the celebration is not always the same day as others internationally. Most festivities start on or during the week of March 17 and continue the day(s) after, but in Buenos Aires, the live music and events can start well before.
Starting initially to introduce Irish culture to Japan, there have been as many as 15 different parades held in the country, the most prominent in Tokyo. The main parade is led by an individual dressed up as St. Patrick, includes all forms of Irish and Japanese music and dance, and has members of the countries’ sports teams. An Irish reporter who travelled to Tokyo to attend the celebrations has fascinating observations about how the cultures are mixed around the celebrations and beyond (O’Doherty, 2019).
Consumerism and other factors have made St. Patrick’s Day a more secular celebration than past times. Parts of it have also been forgotten. This includes some practices of celebrating the day after, such as Shellagh’s day or The Saint’s Wife. But it is clearly still an important cultural event for those of Irish descent and is a unifying identity internationally.
References:
Dermody, K. C. (2019, May 24). 18 of the World’s Biggest and Best St. Patrick’s Day Events. Trips to Discover. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.tripstodiscover.com/18-of-the-worlds-biggest-and-best-st-patricks-day-events/.
Howley. (1869). Sermon preached by the Rev. Doctor Howley in the Cathedral, St. John’ s on the feast of St. Patrick, 1869.
Janice Tibbetts. (2004). MP proposes mid-winter day off, suggests St. Patrick’s Day: Final Edition. Edmonton Journal.
Langan, S. (2022, February 18). Watch: Dyeing of the Chicago River for St. Patrick’s Day is mesmerizing. IrishCentral. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/st-patricks-day-chicago-river-green.
O’Doherty, C. (2019, May 24). Irish Tokyo: why Japan hosts 15 St. Patrick’s Day parades and festivals each year. IrishCentral. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/japan-st-patricks-day.