St Patrick's Day

It is celebrated worldwide by the Irish and those of Irish descent (and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent). A major parade takes place in Dublin and in most other Irish towns and villages. The three largest parades of recent years have been held in Dublin, New York, and Birmingham. Parades also take place in other places, including London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Copenhagen and throughout the Americas. Because of the importance of the day, the celebrations in Dublin have been extended to a week-long event called St. Patrick's Festival, encompassing a spectacular fireworks display (Skyfest), open-air music, street theatre and the traditional parade. The topic of the previous year's (2004) St. Patrick's Symposium was "Talking Irish," during which the nature of Irish identity, economic success and the future was discussed. Many Irish people wear a bunch of shamrock on their lapels or caps on this day, while children wear tri-colour (green, white and orange) badges. Girls traditionally wore green ribbons in their hair (many still do).

The first civic and public celebration of St. Patrick's Day in the American Colonies took place in Boston in 1737. The first St. Patrick's Day celebrated in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756. Since then the New York celebration has become the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world. The parade itself dates back to 1762, and in 2003 more than 150,000 marchers participated, including bands, military and police groups, county associations, emigrant societies, social and cultural clubs. The parade marches up 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

The New York parade has been dogged with controversy in recent years as its organisers have banned Irish gays and lesbians from marching as a group. Gay rights groups have fought in court to obtain the right to march alongside other organizations, and there have been calls in Ireland (which, since 1992, has some of the most liberal gay laws in the world) for a boycott of the parade. The gay groups and their sympathisers would lie down in the middle of the street at the start of the parade route, and would be arrested when they refused to move; in the late 1980s such arrests averaged several hundred per year, but had dwindled to a dozen or less annually by the early 2000s. A tradition has begun in Queens, New York of organizing a parade the week before the official St. Patrick's Day parade which is open to all organizations wishing to march.

The parade is organized and run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH). For many years, the St. Patrick's Day Parade was the primary public function of the AOH. On occasion the AOH has appointed controversial Irish republican figures (some of whom were barred from the U.S.) to be its Grand Marshal.

The New York parade is moved to the previous Saturday (March 16) in years where March 17 is a Sunday. The event is also moved on the rare occasions when, due to Easter falling on a very early date, March 17 would land in Holy Week—this last occurred in 1913, when the parade was held on Saturday, March 15 because Easter that year was March 23 (making March 17 the Monday of Holy Week); this same scenario is scheduled to arise again in 2008, when Easter will also fall on March 23. In many other American cities (such as San Francisco), the parade is always held on the Sunday before March 17, regardless of the permutations of the liturgical calendar.

The Chicago River, dyed green for the 2005 St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Some U.S. cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Others, including Chicago, dye their principal rivers green, an act that most native Irish find bizarre.

St. Patrick's Day parades in Ireland date from the late 19th century, originating in the growing sense of nationalism of the period. Since the 1990s, Irish Taoisigh (prime ministers) have attended special functions either on St. Patrick's Day or a day or two earlier, in the White House, where they present shamrock to the President of the United States. A similar presentation is made to the Speaker of the House. Originally only representatives of the Republic of Ireland attended, but since the mid-1990's all major Irish political parties from north and south are invited, with the attendance including the representatives of the Irish government, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin and others. Sinn Féin was banned from these functions in 2005  In recent years it is common for the entire Irish Government to be abroad representing the country in various parts of the world. In 2003, the President of Ireland celebrated the holiday in Sydney, the Taoiseach was in Washington, while other Irish government members attended ceremonies in New York, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Savannah, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Korea, Japan and Brazil.

In Britain, the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother used to present bowls of shamrock specially flown over from Ireland to members of the Irish Guards, a regiment in the British Army made up of Irish people from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

In many parts of the US, UK and Australia, expatriate Irish, those of Irish descent, and ever-growing crowds of people with no Irish connections but who may proclaim themselves "Irish for a day" also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, usually by consuming large quantities of alcoholic beverages, including lager often dyed green, Irish beer, such as Murphys, Smithwicks, Harp or Guinness, or other Irish liquors such as Irish whiskey, Irish Coffee or Baileys Irish Cream, by wearing at least one article of green-colored clothing, and by listening to Irish folk music. (Former Mayor of New York Ed Koch once proclaimed himself "Ed O'Koch" for the day and is one of the most famous people of non-Irish descent to publicly revel on the holiday.)