Is St. Patrick’s Day a real holiday?

Before starting this piece, I decided to look on the calendar in my iPhone to see if it thought that St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday. Low and behold, they have it under every single March 17. While I am sure St. Patrick’s Day is taken more seriously in Ireland, in America it is more of a day and/or weekend to dress up in green and drink.

St. Patrick’s Day marks the death of Saint Patrick, who was a patron saint of Ireland. Traditionally, people are supposed to observe this holiday by going to a mass or service because it represents the remembrance of the first arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Yet, never have I ever heard of people going to church to honor St. Patrick’s Day. Ever. Even Irish families! So, I am sure that most don’t even have a clue as to what the holiday means to their country of origin or how to properly observe it because it is now so Americanized here in the States. I doubt that it could be seen any differently even if Americans wanted to change it.

Therefore, no, I do not consider this a real holiday, at least how it is celebrated and observed here. I am Irish and before this, I had absolutely no clue why St. Patty’s Day was a holiday—all I knew was that there are always parties and bar specials on and around March, and that on the 17th I should wear something green.

There are even weekends that certain colleges dedicate completely to the non-holiday. Nearby, Penn State University has their annual State Patties celebration, typically the weekend before their spring break. This past weekend, Indiana University of Pennsylvania threw their IUPatties and Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) located in Williamsport, PA held their PCT Patties. This way of celebrating St. Patty’s that we as a society have created is fun, and I am sure that it’ll last the test of time–especially in the college world.