Well, Irish-American. The very first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Boston in 1737, as a celebration of Irish culture in the colonies. It later spread in popularity to Dublin and other American cities, and is now popular in other countries, including many in Europe and even Asia.
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday and has been since the beginning of the 20th century, but the first parade wasn’t held in its honour until the 1930s.
In the mid-1990s Ireland began to use St. Patrick’s Day to promote tourism and cultural identity, some say to reclaim the holiday from the United States where it has become a bit tacky. Others in Ireland and even in the US are concerned that the holiday has become too secular.
Today St. Patrick isn’t much of a thought at all in our celebrations of the famous holiday. Mostly we drink Guinness beer and enjoy dressing like Leprechauns. Sure there is the traditional Celtic music, dancing and dress to provide some touches of authenticity, but those touches are largely absent in Ireland’s own celebrations. What St. Patrick’s Day has become now is largely symbolic, although it’s still a great excuse to have some fun while spending time with friends.
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