St. Patrick’s Day

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My mum’s side is all Irish. This means we have traditions surrounding the holiday as many Irish-Americans do.

The day falls on the 17th of March. This is always the day because it is the day Saint Patrick died.

First and foremost, the holiday is a holy day. It originates as the saint day of St. Patrick. This is very important to my whole family, who is very Catholic. I know in the United States the day is very commercialized.

We also have traditional meals for the holiday. Since my grandmother doesn’t really like corned beef we have ham first for her. The boiled dinner with ham has potatoes, cabbage, and carrots. We usually have corned beef for the actual holiday. This includes the traditional corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and turnips. Usually it is eaten with both ketchup and mustard, but I don’t like mustard so I just stick to ketchup.

We traditionally wear green on this day. I often get a new shirt every year. In the United States people who are not wearing green can be pinched by others. This comes from a legend about leprechauns. They were mischievous creatures who liked to pinch people. Supposedly wearing green masks you invisible to them, which can help prevent you from getting pinched.

I have had green beer with my mum at a bar on St. Patrick’s Day. A couple years ago, we went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston. I really enjoyed it, but there were a lot of people there. If you aren’t a fan of crowds then I would suggest avoiding it.