Anyone who has experienced the painful hangover that follows a joyously celebrated St. Patrick’s Day has asked, “What did I do last night and why did I do it?” There is usually no clear answer to that question, but by the time the next St. Patrick’s Day comes, we’re out there again, making that same mistake. For an Irish national holiday as well as a celebration of a Catholic saint, the binge drinking seems all wrong.
The Irish are commonly known for their drinking, so in keeping with that stereotype, St. Patrick’s Day in the United States is all about booze. During my short trek through Ireland, I did notice a lot of people enjoying a good pint of Guinness with breakfast, but I would hardly say they drink themselves into oblivion. Though the part that really irks me is that the Irish themselves treat the holiday like we treat our Fourth of July. It’s a time for fun, family and good food. It’s very odd that we, as a culture, have managed to mangle such a wholesome national holiday.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to a good pint of Guinness and taking in a happy Irish band. Irish paraphernalia is excellent, and, as pointed out by another student, giving pinches on St. Patrick’s Day is far better than giving presents. I understand that there are a lot of Irish Americans all around the United States (35,975,855, or 12 percent, according to the 2006 American Community Survey), but they are certainly not in the majority. In fact, it’s a little odd that in 2006, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin turned out 500,000 people, whereas the New York parade turned out 2 million.
Coming from a culture appropriately pegged as a melting pot, it’s not really surprising that people will latch onto something that comes from a country with a strong cultural identity, even if it doesn’t really apply to them. It can be both fun and amusing to pretend to be a part of something else, if only for a day.
PSU graduate student Bradi Grebien-Samkow makes an amusing observation about St. Patrick’s Day: “It’s sort of an ‘amateur’ drinking night-you know, a night when people go out that don’t normally go out drinking, which makes the rest of us irritated.” I can’t say I disagree with her, either. Vomiting and unconscious people do seem to turn up everywhere on St. Patrick’s Day-more so than on other holidays or the occasional Friday.
What is the real drive to drink up on St. Patrick’s Day, and how did we get it from good ol’ St. Patrick himself? St. Patrick, though originally from Britain, is the only saint to have had anything to do with Ireland. He died on March 17, and the Irish celebrate him accordingly. As the Irish came to the United States, their holiday became our holiday. A common Guinness logo says, “Everyone is Irish on March 17.” We have thus adopted an otherwise Irish holiday.
It’s not like we’re the only country to have adopted St. Patrick’s Day, either. The U.K., Australia, Canada and even Argentina have all taken part in this jiggy fest. Apparently, we are not unique in our Irish fascination. This sort of popularity is none too shabby for a country that was oppressed for 800 years.
What do the Irish think about all of us foreigners celebrating their holiday? An online journal with commentaries from Adam and Conor from Ireland proper says that foreigners do celebrate it harder, which is amusing since we don’t get the day off. The biggest complaint, however, seems to be our abbreviation of the holiday as “St. Patty’s Day.” Because, as they both point out, “Patty” is a girl’s name. The celebration itself, though, doesn’t bother either of them.
Why not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? It’s fun: There’s great music, delicious beer, and most importantly, everyone always seems to be having a good time. Even with the hangover the next day, as long as you weren’t stupid, I think there’s enough Irish in us to make it all worthwhile.