St. Patricks Day – Is It Best To Celebrate In Ireland Or Abroad?
Celebrating St. Patricks Day at Home
It is now time to take out those green clothes, tall hats, flags, face paint and wear some shamrock on your jacket, jumper or t-shirt! If you are lucky to be at home in Ireland for St Patrick’s day, you can enjoy the wonderful local St Patricks Festival in the comfort of your own town or village, the place you were brought up in, and the local community that you grew up with! St Patrick’s day is a public holiday in Ireland, so there is no excuse not to get back to your home place and enjoy the parade, where at all possible!
An added incentive for getting out and celebrating your local Saint Patrick’s Day parade is that the parade is totally free and offers a great afternoon’s entertainment for all of the family to enjoy. Many local parades feature local schools so your own children may be taking part in the colourful procession of green down your streets!
Celebrating St.Patricks Day at home has its advantages in that you can enjoy the "craic" in the local hostelries, where you can enjoy a few pints and savour the traditional Irish music that will be played. At the pub why not feast your eyes on the All Ireland GAA Club Hurling and Football Finals – what better way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than watching the heartbeat of the GAA, the club, represented in Croke Park on Ireland’s day of national celebration! And the fact that if you are lucky to be at home, you can celebrate the day with your family and friends.
All in all, St. Patrick’s Day can be enjoyed at home in the comfort of your local community – and the festival in Dublin is probably the most colourful one in the world!
Celebrating St Patrick’s Day Abroad
St Patrick’s Day is an event that is celebrated all around the world, the celebration of all things Irish! Parades worldwide are decked out in colourful green and it is a day when everyone aspires to be Irish, and there are festival parades in all of the major cities of the world on March 17th, most particularly in places where there is an Irish diaspora. Although it is not a Federal holiday in the United States, March 17th has a long history of being celebrated with parades, with Irish Americans celebrating the pride of their Irish Heritage on this day.
If you are Irish and abroad, what better way than to celebrate the feast day in an American City? Pints of beer that are coloured green are the order of the day, along with the eating of Irish food and food that is coloured green specifically for the day! Indeed, there are wonderful St Patrick’s day parades celebrated all over the USA, and since its first parade in 1762 (it was the 247th Consecutive Parade in 2008) The New York City St Patrick’s day parade has become probably the largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the world. It has been known to have 150,000 people participating, featuring bands, firefighters, military and the police force, and communities of Irish emigrants.
The parade marches up 5th Avenue in Manhattan and up to 2 million people have been known to line the streets! If you are in the USA, what better way than to celebrate your Irishness by attending!
For the Irish in London, what better than to attend the annual London St Patrick’s Festival which takes place generally on weekends around the 17th, and takes place in Trafalgar Square. Last year, the water in the fountains at the Square was dyed green in order to add to the occasion! Find out more about the St Patrick’s Day Festival in London. And why not celebrate St Patrick’s Day at Cheltenham Racing Festival if you are in this area for the time of March 17th?
The cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester also hold St Patrick’s Day Parades. Manchester actually holds its own Irish Festival to celebrate St Patrick.
The State of Quebec has a festival in its capital city Montreal called the Montreal Irish Festival. There is also a St Patricks Day Festival in Toronto.
The St Patrick’s Day Festival is well celebrated in Australia, and indeed the Sydney Festival is probably the largest festival in the Southern Hemisphere!
To summarise, there are both for and against celebrating St Patrick’s Day at home and abroad. Wherever you are, enjoy the celebrations of Ireland’s patron saint on March 17th. Remember that there is no place like home when celebrating St Patrick’s Day, and if you are able to be in your local area’s parade, you are fortunate to be near home!
By: Mairead Foley
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Mairead writes for GoIreland.com – Ireland’s leading travel and accommodation website.
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Tags: ireland, irish, St. Patrick's Day
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