After a long three week hiatus, I am back!
This time around we are talking along the lines of culture and traditions. With St. Patrick’s Day having come and gone last week on the 17th, I thought I’d like to touch on this subject. As a girl who grew up in the United States and especially in the New England/Maine region, I have to say that St. Patrick’s Day was definitely taken for granted in my life as a holiday. We celebrated it one way or another every year. I had always imagined the holiday actually had more to do with the Catholic church than what was originally portrayed in our society, and as I grew older I, of course, found out it was. In the States much of the way we celebrate the holiday is secular in origin. We’ve taken the idea of St. Patrick’s Day and through the years have turned it into our own celebration which – you guessed it – is much more secular than its religious origins.
Myself wearing green this year!
I remember growing up and in grade school my teachers used to remind us about the party we’d have to celebrate. “Make sure you remember to wear your green and your shamrocks!” They would say. I took this as a learned habit that, yes, on St. Patrick’s Day we wear green to show our Irish heritage and I was honestly proud of mine so wear green I did indeed. Later on in life I realized this was more of an “Americanized” tradition as well as a secular one, but also was widely recognized throughout a good portion of the world. I continue to wear green simply out of habit and as a way to celebrate in the “traditional” way for my family. There is, however, much discussion about the color blue and its connection to St. Patrick through the Order of Saint Patrick as they had adopted the color for their cause. Most people – including myself – continue to wear green.
The other portion of the tradition of wearing shamrocks is much more religious in origin. Saint Patrick himself used the little plant to teach the idea of the trinity of God to the people. Many of the Irish, from what I understand, will wear shamrocks on their jackets or shirts in recognition of the holiday, Saint Patrick, and his teachings.
Another major tradition that is enacted in the States on St. Patrick’s Day is the eating of the Irish-American dish of corned beef and cabbage. While I was never a fan of cabbage (and still am not), this dish was served in my family using a recipe that was passed down through a couple of generations. In this way for me it is a tradition a plan to continue. While it has come to my attention that this is not necessarily done in Ireland on the holiday or even a dish fully associated with the country that holds a great portion of my heritage, I still find it to be delicious.
One of the biggest ideas that is associated with the observance of the holiday is drinking. Many of my older friends would simply say to let the Guinness flow free on the holiday. Pub crawls run rampant and the beer is a must for many in the States. While done by most in good fun, like other holidays where drinking is seen as an appropriate way to celebrate, things can get out of hand. In Ireland, there was a time where the pubs were closed in recognition of the holiday and it wasn’t until the 1970s that the pubs were allowed to reopen on that day.
Other traditions that are more recent in their origins include multiple parades that take place world wide as a way to showcase Irish heritage and the St. Patrick’s Day Test which is a rugby tournament played between the U.S. and Ireland on or around March 17th. Both of these traditions have come into play within the last 150 or so years, but the rugby tournament definitely takes the cake as the most recent as it began in 1995.
Parade-goers in Downpatrick, County Down
St. Patrick’s Day parade this year in Chicago.
Many Irish Catholic leaders have made their views clear on how they feel the holiday should retain more of it’s religious roots, but progress on this idea is always uphill. Much of the world celebrates this holiday in its secular incarnation and to change that would take a very large group effort. For now, I believe it will remain as it is, but it is always interesting to see the evolution of a holiday between its origins and its 21st century. All I can say, is keep celebrating how you would like and just keep in mind the history behind it all. That’s what’s important if you ask me.
Hope you all had a good holiday!
Culture Shock 