St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration occurring on the 17th March every year honouring one of the patron saints of Ireland and is celebrated not only by the Irish people but Canadians, British, Australians, South Africans, Americans and people from all over the world and different cultures. Parties and occasions are held all throughout the world and usually themed along the lines of all things Irish. Green clothes, Irish food and drinks such as whiskey or Guinness milk stout are all part of the worldwide celebrations and in Ireland itself, as it is an official public holiday, parades and festivals occur in cities such as Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Galway as well as towns and villages all over the country.
Leprechauns are to be seen on St. Patrick’s Day all over the globe in their green outfits celebrating and partying at various events annually and this celebration has its roots planted in the 18th century and the Catholic church. Many church leaders and elders feel that the day has become far too commercialised in the modern day and feel that people just use it now as an excuse for drinking copious amounts of alcohol and acting irresponsibly. Many of them believe that it is time to reclaim Saint Paddy’s Day as a church celebration and not a mindless drunken festival.
One of the reasons this particular day is celebrated globally is due to the fact that many Irish soldiers were based all over the world during the wars. Places such as Montreal in Canada have a large population of Irish people living there and although it is not an official holiday in all countries it is still marked as an important day in history. Whether you are a Roman Catholic or not, whether you drink Guinness, whiskey, Irish cream or do not touch alcohol at all, whether you like to dress in green as a leprechaun, wave flags with shamrocks on or live in a country thousands of miles from Ireland, no matter who you are or where you live it is hard to get away from the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations taking place all over the world.