A shameless grab for tourists’ money? A free-for-all holiday for government ministers? A source of national pride? The only holiday in March that can be commercialised? Whatever your opinion, St Patrick’s Day is here again.
Not unlike other holidays such as Valentine’s Day, people aren’t quite sure what the story really is with St Patrick’s Day.
St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland right? Is there a historical truth to this? Probably not. Think about snakes in the twenty first century; where are they naturally found? Does Ireland really have the climate for snakes? Has it ever?
I know it’s about St Patrick supposedly driving the last of the pagans out of Ireland. The biblical connotations suggest that the pagans are deceptive and sly and snakelike.
I see the connection, honestly I do. But ask any Irish person under the age of 80 about St Patrick they will announce that he drove the snakes out of Ireland, and they will not mean the pagans.
An overly defensive religious fanatic scolds you for even questioning the national day of our patron saint, despite the obvious lack of accurate knowledge or even a concrete reason for the celebration.
It’s one of those holidays that changes dramatically with age.
As a child, you wore green clothes, attended the local parade and were allowed to indulge yourself too much in sweets and fizzy drinks because it was the much needed and well deserved break from a self-imposed sacrifice mimicking of our one and only Jesus Christ, or as others call it, Lent.
As a teenager you are expected to go to town, get pushed around the city centre in order to have a glance at parade floats that you really couldn’t care less about, have a crap time with too many people while also getting outrageously drunk.
If you don’t do these things, well then you’re failing as a teenager aren’t you?
I’m not really sure what the protocol is for college students as of yet.
It falls on a Thursday this year which means that everyone is working on both the Wednesday and Friday.
Not that it makes any difference. It’ll probably be just like how every holiday, weekend, assignment due date, or end of test period is celebrated or commiserated. Drink. Night Out. Fast Food. Hangover. Regret. Standard. No complaints.
Tourists from all over the world flock to our little island for this one day.
Expecting to find pots of gold, a rainbow or two and red haired, freckled Irishmen, are they disappointed by our lacklustre parade, the grey weather and funds stretched too far in an attempt to live up the unattainable standards that the world has inadvertently imposed on us?
I don’t think so. Amid all my cynicism and pessimistic attitude, I do actually like St Patrick’s Day.
It is irrefutably ours, perhaps one of the lasting results of our desire to be separated from the British a century ago.
It’s our version of the 4th of July for the Americans, or Bastille Day for the French. But instead of the exclusivity of those events, in which only the relevant countries should feel entitled to celebrate, we embrace our representation of céad míle fáilte.
We call on the Irish across the globe, and the people who for whatever reason feel Irish, to join in, have a Guinness, wear some green and join the party.
The green light of the iconic landmarks around the world is very significant. It highlights an Irish tradition of emigration, and not necessarily in the doom and gloom context that we hear about on a day-to-day basis.
During her time as President of Ireland, Mary Robinson placed a light in the window of Áras an Uachtaráin as a sign of remembering the Irish emigrants.
An old Irish folk custom, this was regarded as very special for Irish people all over the world.
This idea seems prevalent in the celebrations that have captured the world’s attention.
If you are located in Brazil, England, America, Australia (to name but a few), they are shining their lights for you in honour of your Irish identity.
They are accepting you into your new home but with open arms as an Irish citizen.
A far cry from the days of old where Irish emigrants were discriminated against and shop windows had signs saying “No Irish Need Apply” in some parts of the world.
St Patricks Day, although commercialised and played-up for the tourist’s sake, is an Irish celebration that the whole world is involved in.
No other small country can claim to have a day dedicated to them that is also open to everyone.
It’s incredible really if you think about it, a country once oppressed and ruled by the British Empire, with a population less than Madrid’s, manages to capture the attention and focus of the entire world.
