St. Patrick’s Day was a big deal growing up. This was a day to celebrate our Irish heritage and spread cheer by dressing up, toasting to our blessings, and being with family. My mom loved all holidays and found creative ways to celebrate everything (see previous posts about Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday) but this one was her favorite. Being a tall, freckled redhead, she wore her “Irishness” all the time, but this was the day she could be Queen of Green.
St. Patrick’s Day in the United States is a fascinating cultural phenomenon. It’s a holy day in Ireland, marked by Catholics that go to mass. St. Patrick was a Brit that was captured and enslaved by Irish pirates. In servitude he worked the land and developed his faith. He converted to Christianity and became a missionary. According to the legend he used the shamrock to teach about the holy trinity (the cross)- father, son and holy spirit.
When the Irish immigrated to the U.S. fleeing famine in the mid 1800s they faced extreme poverty and bigotry. The holiday became a way to celebrate ethnic and cultural pride and push back against the prejudice they experienced. While ham and cabbage was eaten in Ireland, corned beef was a cheaper substitute for the impoverished immigrants. Irish living in the slums of NYC purchased leftover provisions of corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. Almost four million Irish people immigrated to the U.S. between 1840 and 1900. Many Irish newcomers entered commercial life by running pubs, which were also grocery stores and everything else new immigrants needed to get a start on their new life. My great grandparents had a pub called the Harp in Milwaukee.
My feelings about the holiday are complicated today. The story of St. Patrick is part history and mythology. Christianizing missions accompanied colonization and cultural genocide. Many argue that aspects of Irish life were completely eradicated and replaced with Roman Catholic ideals, styles, and practices. Others say that language, music, folklore, and art have survived quite well and these old customs live adjacent to the Christian traditions that are practiced throughout Ireland. Alcoholism is a serious disease that plagues our families and yet this holiday is honored by drinking beer and whiskey. The Irish-American police and firefighter guys that promote Blue Lives Matter rhetoric and racism in their families are the worst yet. I stopped going to the Philly St. Patrick’s Day parade because I was so uncomfortable about the propaganda they spewed a few years ago.
At the same time, I love the stories I was told growing up. I love the folklore about wee people playing tricks on foolish humans. I love knowing I come from a people that suffered a great loss by leaving their land, yet survived and ultimately flourished for generations more. I LOVE drinking beer and dancing with my family while wearing obnoxious amounts of green. I love telling my kids about their multiple heritages and celebrating each one. And most of all I love my mom, who represents all the good in the world to me.
Before my mom died we did our DNA tests. My mom is 93% Irish and I’m 79%. I have hundreds of cousins in the U.S. but no direct connections in Ireland. My husband did his DNA test as well and although his entire family is African American and he has very little Irish DNA, he found a distant cousin currently living in Ireland. Crazy right?!
Our heritage and identity is complex. We can honor the best parts of ourselves and push forth cherished memories and traditions while recognizing our complicated history and interconnected humanity. St. Patrick’s Day is a great example of how the world is and always has been a place of global exchange. What ideas, traditions and practices do you think are worth preserving and spreading today?
Did you know that:
- Less than 2% of the world’s population has red hair.
- Red hair can occur in any ethnicity.
- More than 90% of men with red hair have been bullied because of their hair!
- My brother Patrick was named after St. Patrick and his birthday is March 20th. He owns and wears a green kilt every year!
- My brother Ben is a freckly ginger and he married Kristen, whose birthday is today!
- Hug your favorite ginger and raise a glass for all your blessings today! Sláinte.
Be Like Barb 