Until today I knew absolutely nothing about St. Patrick's Day other than the fact that people got drunk and wore green. Here is the scoop on St. Patrick's Day and what makes it what it is today.
Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on March 17. It is named after Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Comunnion, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrates the heritage of the culture and of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.
If you want to know more go here http://www.st-patricks-day.com/ they have everything from Irish music to the details of St. Patrick and so much more.
They even have Irish recipes like this one:
Irish Stew Recipe
2-3 potatoes for every person. (pealed and ready to cook)
500g Beef Mince/ Stewing beef (diced)
500g carrots sliced.
1 small onion finely chopped.
Small cup full of pearl barley
salt. (preferably low-salt or something equivalent as stew needs lots of
salt)
3 x beef oxo cubes (beef stock cubes)
Add the mince/stewing beef and pearl barley to big pot of water and bring to
boil and simmer. When beef is cooked add carrots and onion. Make beef stock
in jug and add to pot too. Add as much salt as seems necessary or leave this
out until serving and people can add what they feel individually necessary.
About an hour before serving time add potatoes to the pot to cook.
Serve when potatoes are cooked.
This stew would go great with sprite with green food coloring in it!