After listening to my mum rant and rave about how St. Patrick's Day is NOT about green beer, I thought I'd post this.

Not all Irish eyes smile on some St. Patrick's Day traditions

By Matthew K. Roy
Staff Writer

"St. Patrick's Day celebrations reinforced the idea that heavy drinking was the way to express Irishness. Along with millions of Irish Americans, I was celebrating a degrading caricature of myself." — from "Irish on the Inside" by writer/activist Tom Hayden

Today, Irish and non-Irish alike celebrate St. Patrick, the man who brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle.

Many will wear something green, maybe sample some corned beef and cabbage, and then take a seat at a bar for a pint or two, or more, of Guinness.

It's that latter tradition that has some local Irishmen concerned about how the holiday is being interpreted. They hope the day's Old World tradition won't get lost in the clink of celebratory mugs.

Those mugs were silent on the day in Ireland itself until 1970. Irish law mandated pubs close on March 17.

"In Ireland, for many years, you couldn't get a pint on St. Patrick's Day," said Joseph Healey, president of the local chapter of Hibernians.

"It would be foolhardy," saud Healey, "to say the day hasn't been misrepresented, and there isn't an over-emphasis on drinking."

"It's too commercialized, absolutely," said Keith Sullivan, also a member the Newburyport Hibernians, an Irish-Catholic organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Irish heritage.

"It's great to have a St. Patrick's Day," Sullivan said. "But I don't think there is a need for green beer."

The holiday, Sullivan said, is used too often in this country as an excuse to drink heavily. "That's not really the meaning," Sullivan said.

The stereotype of the Irish as alcohol dependent is "so far from the truth," he said.

"We try to redirect thinking back to where it's supposed to be," Healey said. "The emphasis is on the Feast of St. Patrick."

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, as well as the Archdiocese of Boston, is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. He played a primary role in spreading Christianity throughout Ireland.

Hibernian George Cashman said he will today recall the history of the Irish people in this country.

"The Irish emigrated in the 1840s and brought with them a lot of traditions that we still celebrate over here," he said.

Millions left their homeland, dislocated by the famines that ravaged the country during that era.

"They settled here in great numbers and helped make the United States what it is today," Cashman said.

By Colette on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 07:25 pm:

I think it is interesting how it has changed. My mum said that when she was a child, you went to church on St. Patrick's day and it was considered a religious holiday.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 10:01 pm:

Don't worry. No alcohol is being consumed here. The last place I want to be is out on the roads tonight, especially with the snow coming. Drunk people and snow doesn't sound like a good combination. I'm staying home now!

Seems it would be a lot safer to have it just be a religious holiday!