ST. PATRICK’S DAY is a celebration of Ireland and all things Irish, but there’s no shortage of Hibernophiles around the world who like to get involved.
Whether this is because of a personal connection to the country through emigration and the likes, or simply an admiration of Ireland’s culture or its people, St. Patrick’s Day is a global celebration.
Some places go all out though, and in some ways you might not expect.
For obvious reason, the Texas town of Shamrock makes a big deal of St. Patrick’s Day.
The town started celebrating the day in 1938 and after a break during the Second World War it came back in a big way in 1950.
The town is located on the old Route 66 and will this year hold a four-day event, highlights of which include the return of the Miss Irish Rose Pageant.
Marketed globally as the “Emerald Isle of the Caribbean”, the island also counts St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday.
The holiday that simultaneously commemorates the island’s Irish heritage and a failed uprising by Afro-Caribbean slaves and members of the island’s free black community on the same day in 1768.
In the island’s first census collected in 1678, 70% of Montserrat’s white population self-identified as Irish and the evidence of that connection remains to this day.
The St Patrick’s holiday has grown into a week-long festival that attracts international tourists and acts as a major homecoming event for Montserrat’s diaspora community.
https://www.facebook.com/new.dublin/videos/10209264129915011/
Not content with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the Wisconsin town of New London changes its name to ‘New Dublin’ to celebrate the festivities.
The week-long celebration is a pretty big deal with the town’s website saying that this year the parade will have more than 125 floats including: “an extensive lineup of bagpipe bands, marching bands, festive clowns, specialty units, clans and an Irish wake parody.”
It seems like there’s loads of good stuff happening with a big top tent housing two céili bands and “corned beef and cabbage is widely served during the week.
Russia might not be in the news for the best of reasons right now, but the country’s capital enjoys some Paddy’s Day shenanigans as much as everyone else.
Moscow has been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since 1992 and the day is holds a parade like most everywhere else that has a Paddy’s Day tradition.
Given that it’s Russia, the parade often has a military element but in recent years it’s been very much more about drinking and dancing.
As the RT journalist above says in her above report, Russians and Irish both “enjoy having fun, making people smile and having a few drinks.”
Another place where St. Patrick’s Day is also a national holiday. The easternmost Atlantic Canadian province has long a long and deep-seated connection to Ireland.
Whether or not St. Brendan made it there during the 6th century, many of Newfoundland and Labrador’s residents have Irish ancestry.
Newfoundlanders’ distinctive accent has long been a subject of much confusion to many Canadians but it will be very familiar to Irish people.
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