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Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Lá Fhéile Pádraig), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and, by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians who belong to liturgical denominations also attend church services and historically the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of mass alcohol consumption.

Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees), and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, United States, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, especially amongst Irish diaspora. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. Modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. However, there has been criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialised and for fostering negative stereotypes of the Irish people.

Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.

According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands.

Patrick's efforts were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove "snakes", heathen practices, out of Ireland, despite the fact that actual snakes were not known to inhabit the region.

Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland's foremost saint.

Celebration and traditions

Present day Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have been greatly influenced by those that developed among the Irish diaspora, especially in North America. Until the late 20th century, Saint Patrick's Day was often a bigger celebration among the diaspora than it was in Ireland.

Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, Irish traditional music sessions (céilithe), and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. There are also formal gatherings such as banquets and dances, although these were more common in the past. Saint Patrick's Day parades began in North America in the 18th century but did not spread to Ireland until the 20th century. The participants generally include marching bands, the military, fire brigades, cultural organisations, charitable organisations, voluntary associations, youth groups, fraternities, and so on. However, over time, many of the parades have become more akin to a carnival. More effort is made to use the Irish language, especially in Ireland, where 1 March to St Patrick's Day on 17 March is Seachtain na Gaeilge ("Irish language week").

Since 2010, famous landmarks have been lit up in green on Saint Patrick's Day as part of Tourism Ireland's "Global Greening Initiative" or "Going Green for St Patrick's Day". The Sydney Opera House and the Sky Tower in Auckland were the first landmarks to participate and since then over 300 landmarks in fifty countries across the globe have gone green for Saint Patrick's Day.

Christians may also attend church services, and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day. Perhaps because of this, drinking alcohol – particularly Irish whiskey, beer, or cider – has become an integral part of the celebrations. In Ireland, this relaxation of fasting rules is notably marked by the consumption of stout, a dark ale beer that is a key part of the celebration, with breweries preparing months in advance for the demand. The Saint Patrick's Day custom of "drowning the shamrock" or "wetting the shamrock" was historically popular. At the end of the celebrations, especially in Ireland, a shamrock is put into the bottom of a cup, which is then filled with whiskey, beer, or cider. It is then drunk as a toast to Saint Patrick, Ireland, or those present. The shamrock would either be swallowed with the drink or taken out and tossed over the shoulder for good luck.

Irish Government ministers travel abroad on official visits to various countries around Saint Patrick's Day to promote Ireland.

Wearing green and shamrocks
On Saint Patrick's Day, it is customary to wear shamrocks, green clothing or green accessories. Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. This story first appears in writing in 1726, though it may be older. In pagan Ireland, three was a significant number and the Irish had many triple deities, which may have aided St Patrick in his evangelisation efforts. Roger Homan writes, "We can perhaps see St Patrick drawing upon the visual concept of the triskele when he uses the shamrock to explain the Trinity". Patricia Monaghan says there is no evidence the shamrock was sacred to the pagan Irish. Jack Santino speculates that it may have represented the regenerative powers of nature, and was recast in a Christian context—icons of Saint Patrick often depict the saint "with a cross in one hand and a sprig of shamrocks in the other".

The first association of the colour green with Ireland is from a legend in the 11th century Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland). It tells of Goídel Glas (Goídel the green), the eponymous ancestor of the Gaels and creator of the Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx). Goídel is bitten by a venomous snake but saved from death by Moses placing his staff on the snakebite, leaving him with a green mark. His descendants settle in Ireland, a land free of snakes. One of the first, Íth, visits Ireland after climbing the Tower of Hercules and being captivated by the sight of a beautiful green island in the distance.

The colour green was further associated with Ireland from the 1640s, when the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Later, James Connolly described this flag as representing "the sacred emblem of Ireland's unconquered soul". Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on Saint Patrick's Day since at least the 1680s. Since then, the colour green and its association with St Patrick's Day have grown. The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish fraternity founded in about 1750, adopted green as its colour. The Order of St Patrick, an Anglo-Irish chivalric order founded in 1783, instead adopted blue as its colour, which led to blue being associated with Saint Patrick. In the 1790s, the colour green was adopted by the United Irishmen. This was a republican organisation—founded mostly by Protestants but with many Catholic members—who launched a rebellion in 1798 against British rule. Ireland was first called "the Emerald Isle" in "When Erin First Rose" (1795), a poem by a co-founder of the United Irishmen, William Drennan, which stresses the historical importance of green to the Irish. The phrase "wearing of the green" comes from a song of the same name about United Irishmen being persecuted for wearing green. The flags of the 1916 Easter Rising featured green, such as the Starry Plough banner and the Proclamation Flag of the Irish Republic. When the Irish Free State was founded in 1922, the government ordered all post boxes be painted green, with the slogan "green paint for a green people"; in 1924, the government introduced a green Irish passport.

The wearing of the 'St Patrick's Day Cross' was also a popular custom in Ireland until the early 20th century. These were a Celtic Christian cross made of paper that was "covered with silk or ribbon of different colours, and a bunch or rosette of green silk in the centre".

History
Saint Patrick's feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church in the early 1600s, due to the influence of Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Catholics in Ireland. It is also a feast day in the Church of Ireland, part of the Anglican Communion. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick's Day was officially observed on 3 April to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 15 March. Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160. However, the popular festivities may still be held on 17 March or on a weekend near to the feast day.

Saint Patrick's was perceived as the middle day of spring in the Irish calendar. People expected that weather would be improved following the festival, and farmers would begin planting potato.

Modern era
In 1903, Saint Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland due to the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, an act of the United Kingdom parliament introduced by Irish MP James O'Mara.

The first Saint Patrick's Day parade in Ireland was held in Waterford in 1903, hundreds of years after the first parade in North America. The week of Saint Patrick's Day 1903 had been declared Irish Language Week by the Gaelic League and in Waterford they opted to have a procession on Sunday 15 March. The procession comprised the Mayor and members of Waterford Corporation, the Trades Hall, the various trade unions and bands who included the 'Barrack St Band' and the 'Thomas Francis Meagher Band'. The parade began at the premises of the Gaelic League in George's St and finished in the Peoples Park, where the public were addressed by the Mayor and other dignitaries. On Tuesday 17 March, most Waterford businesses—including public houses—were closed and marching bands paraded as they had two days previously.

On Saint Patrick's Day 1916, the Irish Volunteers—an Irish nationalist paramilitary organisation—held parades throughout Ireland. The authorities recorded 38 St Patrick's Day parades, involving 6,000 marchers, almost half of whom were reported to be armed. The following month, the Irish Volunteers launched the Easter Rising against British rule. This marked the beginning of the Irish revolutionary period and led to the Irish War of Independence and Civil War. During this time, Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in Ireland were muted, although the day was sometimes chosen to hold large political rallies.

The celebrations remained low-key after the creation of the Irish Free State; the only state-organized observance was a military procession and trooping of the colours, and an Irish-language mass attended by government ministers. In 1927, the Irish Free State government banned the selling of alcohol on St Patrick's Day, although it remained legal in Northern Ireland. The ban was not repealed until 1961.

The first official, state-sponsored Saint Patrick's Day parade in Dublin took place in 1931. Public St Patrick's Day festivities in Ireland have been cancelled three times, all for public health reasons. In 2001, celebrations were postponed to May due to the foot-and-mouth outbreak,  while in 2020 and 2021 they were cancelled outright due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Northern Ireland, the celebration of Saint Patrick's Day was affected by sectarian divisions. A majority of the population were Protestant Ulster unionists who saw themselves primarily as British, while a substantial minority were Catholic Irish nationalists who saw themselves primarily as Irish. Although it was a public holiday, Northern Ireland's unionist government did not officially observe St Patrick's Day. During the conflict known as the Troubles (late 1960s–late 1990s), public St Patrick's Day celebrations were rare and tended to be associated with the Catholic community. In 1976, loyalists detonated a car bomb outside a pub crowded with Catholics celebrating St Patrick's Day in Dungannon; four civilians were killed and many injured. However, some Protestant unionists attempted to 're-claim' the festival, and in 1985 the Orange Order held its own Saint Patrick's Day parade. Since the end of the conflict in 1998 there have been cross-community St Patrick's Day parades in towns throughout Northern Ireland, which have attracted thousands of spectators.

In the mid-1990s the government of the Republic of Ireland began a campaign to use Saint Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. The government set up a group called St Patrick's Festival, with the aims of creating a world-class national festival and "to project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal". The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2006, the festival was five days long. More than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade, and that year's festival saw almost 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks. From 2006 to 2012 the Skyfest formed the centrepiece of the Saint Patrick's Festival.

The week around Saint Patrick's Day is Seachtain na Gaeilge ("Irish Language Week"), when more Irish language events are held and there is more effort to use the language.

Christian leaders in Ireland have expressed concern about the secularisation of Saint Patrick's Day. In The Word magazine's March 2007 issue, Fr Vincent Twomey wrote, "It is time to reclaim St Patrick's Day as a church festival". He questioned the need for "mindless alcohol-fuelled revelry" and concluded that "it is time to bring the piety and the fun together".

One of the biggest celebrations outside the cities is in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is said to be buried. The shortest Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world formerly took place in Dripsey, County Cork. The parade lasted just 23.4 metres and traveled between the village's two pubs. The tradition began in 1999, but ended after five years when one of the pubs closed.

England
In England, the Royal Colonel or Colonel-in-chief traditionally present bowls of shamrock to members of the Irish Guards, a regiment in the British Army, following Queen Alexandra introducing the tradition in 1901. Since 2012, the Duchess of Cambridge has presented the bowls of shamrock to the Irish Guards. While female royals are often tasked with presenting the bowls of shamrock, male royals have also undertaken the role, such as King George VI in 1950 to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Irish Guards, and in 2016 the Duke of Cambridge in place of his wife. Fresh Shamrocks are presented to the Irish Guards, regardless of where they are stationed, and are flown in from Ireland.

While some Saint Patrick's Day celebrations could be conducted openly in Britain pre 1960s, this would change following the commencement by the IRA's bombing campaign on mainland Britain and as a consequence this resulted in a suspicion of all things Irish and those who supported them which led to people of Irish descent wearing a sprig of shamrock on Saint Patrick's day in private or attending specific events. Today after many years following the Good Friday Agreement, people of Irish descent openly wear a sprig of shamrock to celebrate their Irishness.

Christian denominations in Great Britain observing his feast day include The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

Birmingham holds the largest Saint Patrick's Day parade in Britain with a city centre parade over a two-mile (3 km) route through the city centre. The organisers describe it as the third biggest parade in the world after Dublin and New York.

London, since 2002, has had an annual Saint Patrick's Day parade which takes place on weekends around the 17th, usually in Trafalgar Square. In 2008, the water in the Trafalgar Square fountains was dyed green. In 2020, the Parade was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liverpool has the highest proportion of residents with Irish ancestry of any English city. This has led to a long-standing celebration on Saint Patrick's Day in terms of music, cultural events and the parade.

Manchester hosts a two-week Irish festival in the weeks prior to Saint Patrick's Day. The festival includes an Irish Market based at the city's town hall which flies the Irish tricolour opposite the Union Flag, a large parade as well as a large number of cultural and learning events throughout the two-week period.

Malta

The first Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in Malta took place in the early 20th century by soldiers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who were stationed in Floriana. Celebrations were held in the Balzunetta area of the town, which contained a number of bars and was located close to the barracks. The Irish diaspora in Malta continued to celebrate the feast annually.

Today, Saint Patrick's Day is mainly celebrated in Spinola Bay and Paceville areas of St Julian's, although other celebrations still occur at Floriana and other locations. Thousands of Maltese attend the celebrations, "which are more associated with drinking beer than traditional Irish culture."

Norway
Norway has had a Saint Patrick's Day parade in Oslo since 2000, first organized by Irish expatriates living in Norway, and partially coordinated with the Irish embassy in Oslo.

Russia
The first Saint Patrick's Day parade in Russia took place in 1992. Since 1999, there has been a yearly "Saint Patrick's Day" festival in Moscow and other Russian cities. The official part of the Moscow parade is a military-style parade and is held in collaboration with the Moscow government and the Irish embassy in Moscow. The unofficial parade is held by volunteers and resembles a carnival. In 2014, Moscow Irish Week was celebrated from 12 to 23 March, which includes Saint Patrick's Day on 17 March. Over 70 events celebrating Irish culture in Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Voronezh, and Volgograd were sponsored by the Irish Embassy, the Moscow City Government, and other organisations.

In 2017, the Russian Orthodox Church added the feast day of Saint Patrick to its liturgical calendar, to be celebrated on 30 March.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a large Irish expatriate community. The community established the Sarajevo Irish Festival in 2015, which is held for three days around and including Saint Patrick's Day. The festival organizes an annual a parade, hosts Irish theatre companies, screens Irish films and organizes concerts of Irish folk musicians. The festival has hosted numerous Irish artists, filmmakers, theatre directors and musicians such as Conor Horgan, Ailis Ni Riain, Dermot Dunne, Mick Moloney, Chloë Agnew and others.

Scotland
The Scottish town of Coatbridge, where the majority of the town's population are of Irish descent, also has a Saint Patrick's Day Festival which includes celebrations and parades in the town centre.

Glasgow has a considerably large Irish population; due, for the most part, to the Irish immigration during the 19th century. This immigration was the main cause in raising the population of Glasgow by over 100,000 people. Due to this large Irish population, there are many Irish-themed pubs and Irish interest groups who hold yearly celebrations on Saint Patrick's day in Glasgow. Glasgow has held a yearly Saint Patrick's Day parade and festival since 2007.

Spain
Madrid, Barcelona, La Coruña and Benidorm are the biggest cities where great celebrations take place in Spain, but some other smaller cities have started to host Saint Patrick's Day in recent years, such as El Espinar, Caldas de Reyes, Pontevedra, Salamanca, Elda, Valladolid and Maspalomas.

Switzerland
While Saint Patrick's Day in Switzerland is commonly celebrated on 17 March with festivities similar to those in neighbouring central European countries, it is not unusual for Swiss students to organise celebrations in their own living spaces on Saint Patrick's Eve. Most popular are usually those in Zurich's Kreis 4. Traditionally, guests also contribute with beverages and dress in green.

Lithuania
Although it is not a national holiday in Lithuania, the Vilnia River is dyed green every year on the Saint Patrick's Day in the capital Vilnius.

Canada
One of the longest-running and largest Saint Patrick's Day (le jour de la Saint-Patrick) parades in North America occurs each year in Montreal, whose city flag includes a shamrock in its lower-right quadrant. The yearly celebration has been organised by the United Irish Societies of Montreal since 1929. The parade has been held yearly without interruption since 1824. Saint Patrick's Day itself, however, has been celebrated in Montreal since as far back as 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison following the British conquest of New France.

In Saint John, New Brunswick Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated as a week-long celebration. Shortly after the JP Collins Celtic Festival is an Irish festival celebrating Saint John's Irish heritage. The festival is named for a young Irish doctor James Patrick Collins who worked on Partridge Island (Saint John County) quarantine station tending to sick Irish immigrants before he died there himself.

In Manitoba, the Irish Association of Manitoba runs a yearly three-day festival of music and culture based around Saint Patrick's Day.

In 2004, the CelticFest Vancouver Society organised its first yearly festival in downtown Vancouver to celebrate the Celtic Nations and their cultures. This event, which includes a parade, occurs each year during the weekend nearest Saint Patrick's Day.

In Quebec City, there was a parade from 1837 to 1926. The Quebec City St-Patrick Parade returned in 2010 after more than 84 years. For the occasion, a portion of the New York Police Department Pipes and Drums were present as special guests.

There has been a parade held in Toronto since at least 1863.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was known as the Toronto St. Patricks from 1919 to 1927, and wore green jerseys. In 1999, when the Maple Leafs played on Saint Patrick's Day, they wore green St Patrick's retro uniforms.

Some groups, notably Guinness, have lobbied to make Saint Patrick's Day a national holiday.

In March 2009, the Calgary Tower changed its top exterior lights to new green CFL bulbs just in time for Saint Patrick's Day. Part of an environmental non-profit organisation's campaign (Project Porchlight), the green represented environmental concerns. Approximately 210 lights were changed in time for Saint Patrick's Day, and resembled a Leprechaun's hat. After a week, white CFLs took their place. The change was estimated to save the Calgary Tower some $12,000 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 104 tonnes.

Since 2019, the City of Waterloo, Ontario has had to contend with an ever-growing massive street party that has coincided with the Saint Patrick's Day celebrations. In 2023, police could be seen putting fences up on Ezra Avenue to discourage partiers to participate in the unauthorized event that has cost the city as much as $750,000 a year for police, paramedics, and municipal services.

United States

Saint Patrick's Day, while not a legal holiday in the United States, is nonetheless widely recognised and observed throughout the country as a celebration of Irish and Irish-American culture. Celebrations include prominent displays of the colour green, religious observances, numerous parades, and copious consumption of alcohol. The holiday has been celebrated in what is now the U.S. since 1600, with the first parade occurring in 1601.

It is customary for the Irish Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) to meet with the President of the United States on or around Saint Patrick's Day. Traditionally the Taoiseach presents the US president a Waterford Crystal bowl filled with shamrocks. This tradition began in 1952 when the Irish Ambassador to the US, John Hearne, sent a box of shamrocks to President Harry S. Truman. From then it became a yearly custom for the Irish ambassador to send Saint Patrick's Day shamrocks to an official in the US President's administration, although on some occasions the shamrocks were given personally by the Irish Taoiseach or Irish President to the US president in Washington. After the meeting between Taoiseach Albert Reynolds and President Bill Clinton in 1994, the presenting of the shamrocks became a yearly custom.

Mexico
The Saint Patrick's Battalion is honored in Mexico on Saint Patrick's Day.

Argentina
In Buenos Aires, a party is held in the downtown street of Reconquista, where there are several Irish pubs; in 2006, there were 50,000 people in this street and the pubs nearby. Neither the Catholic Church nor the Irish community, the fifth largest in the world outside Ireland, take part in the organisation of the parties.

Montserrat
The island of Montserrat is known as the "Emerald Island of the Caribbean" because of its founding by Irish refugees from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Montserrat is one of three places where Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday, along with Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The holiday in Montserrat also commemorates a failed slave uprising that occurred on 17 March 1768.

Australia
Saint Patrick's Day is not a public holiday in Australia, although it is celebrated each year across the country's states and territories. Festivals and parades are often held on weekends around 17 March in cities such as Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Melbourne. On occasion, festivals and parades are cancelled. For instance, Melbourne's 2006 and 2007 Saint Patrick's Day festivals and parades were cancelled due to sporting events (Commonwealth Games and Australian Grand Prix) being booked on and around the planned Saint Patrick's Day festivals and parades in the city. In Sydney the parade and family day was cancelled in 2016 due to financial problems. However, Brisbane's Saint Patrick's Day parade, which was cancelled at the outbreak of World War II and wasn't revived until 1990, was not called off in 2020 as precaution for the COVID-19 pandemic, in contrast to many other Saint Patrick's Day parades around the world.

The first mention of Saint Patrick's Day being celebrated in Australia was in 1795, when Irish convicts and administrators, Catholic and Protestant, in the penal colony came together to celebrate the day as a national holiday, despite a ban against assemblies being in place at the time. This unified day of Irish nationalist observance would soon dissipate over time, with celebrations on Saint Patrick's Day becoming divisive between religions and social classes, representative more of Australianness than of Irishness and held intermittingly throughout the years. Historian Patrick O'Farrell credits the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne for re-igniting St Patrick's Day celebrations in Australia and reviving the sense of Irishness amongst those with Irish heritage. The organisers of the Saint Patrick's festivities in the past were, more often than not, the Catholic clergy which often courted controversy. Bishop Patrick Phelan of Sale described in 1921 how the authorities in Victoria had ordered that a Union Jack be flown at the front of the Saint Patrick's Day parade and following the refusal by Irishmen and Irish-Australians to do so, the authorities paid for an individual to carry the flag at the head of the parade. This individual was later assaulted by two men who were later fined in court.

New Zealand
From 1878 to 1955, Saint Patrick's Day was recognised as a public holiday in New Zealand, together with St George's Day (England) and St Andrew's Day (Scotland). Auckland attracted many Irish migrants in the 1850s and 1860s, and it was here where some of the earliest Saint Patrick's Day celebrations took place, which often entailed the hosting of community picnics. However, this rapidly evolved from the late 1860s onwards to include holding parades with pipe bands and marching children wearing green, sporting events, concerts, balls and other social events, where people displayed their Irishness with pride. While Saint Patrick's Day is no longer recognised as a public holiday, it continues to be celebrated across New Zealand with festivals and parades at weekends on or around 17 March.

Asia
Saint Patrick's parades are now held in many locations across Japan. The first parade, in Tokyo, was organised by The Irish Network Japan (INJ) in 1992.

The Irish Association of Korea has celebrated Saint Patrick's Day since 1976 in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. The place of the parade and festival has been moved from Itaewon and Daehangno to Cheonggyecheon.

In Malaysia, the St Patrick's Society of Selangor, founded in 1925, organises a yearly St Patrick's Ball, described as the biggest Saint Patrick's Day celebration in Asia. Guinness Anchor Berhad also organises 36 parties across the country in places like the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Bahru, Malacca, Ipoh, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu, Miri and Kuching.

UN Peacekeeping Missions
Irish United Nations (UN) peacekeepers also celebrating Saint Patrick's Day outside Ireland during their participation in UN peacekeeping missions in conflict-raged countries.

International Space Station
Astronauts on board the International Space Station have celebrated the festival in different ways. Irish-American Catherine Coleman played a hundred-year-old flute belonging to Matt Molloy and a tin whistle belonging to Paddy Moloney, both members of the Irish music group The Chieftains, while floating weightless in the space station on Saint Patrick's Day in 2011. Her performance was later included in a track called "The Chieftains in Orbit" on the group's 2012 album, Voice of Ages.

Chris Hadfield took photographs of Ireland from Earth orbit, and a picture of himself wearing green clothing in the space station, and posted them online on Saint Patrick's Day in 2013. He also posted online a recording of himself singing "Danny Boy" in space.

Criticism
Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have been criticised, particularly for their association with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Some argue that the festivities have become too commercialised and tacky, and have strayed from their original purpose of honouring Saint Patrick and Irish heritage. Irish American journalist Niall O'Dowd has criticised attempts to recast Saint Patrick's Day as a celebration of multiculturalism rather than a celebration of Irishness.

Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have also been criticised for fostering demeaning stereotypes of Ireland and Irish people. An example is the wearing of 'leprechaun outfits', which are based on derogatory 19th century caricatures of the Irish. In the run up to Saint Patrick's Day 2014, the Ancient Order of Hibernians successfully campaigned to stop major American retailers from selling novelty merchandise that promoted negative Irish stereotypes.

Saint Patrick's Day celebrations outside Ireland have been described by critics as displays of "Plastic Paddyness"; where foreigners appropriate and misrepresent Irish culture, claim Irish identity, and enact Irish stereotypes.

LGBT groups in the US were long banned from marching in Saint Patrick's Day parades in New York City and Boston, resulting in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston. In New York City, the ban was lifted in 2014, but LGBT groups still find that barriers to participation exist. In Boston, the ban on LGBT group participation was lifted in 2015.

Sports events

 * Traditionally the finals of the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship were held on Saint Patrick's Day in Croke Park, Dublin, but since 2020 these now take place in January. The Interprovincial Championship was previously held on 17 March but this was switched to games being played in Autumn.
 * The Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup, Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup and Ulster Schools Senior Cup finals are held on Saint Patrick's Day. The Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup final is held on the weekend before Saint Patrick's Day.
 * Horse racing at the Cheltenham Festival attracts large numbers of Irish people, both residents of Britain and many who travel from Ireland, and usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day.
 * The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby Union tournament competed by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales and reaches its climax on or around Saint Patrick's Day. On St Patrick's Day 2018, Ireland defeated England 24–15 at Twickenham, London to claim the third Grand Slam in their history.
 * The Saint Patrick's Day Test is an international rugby league tournament that is played between the US and Ireland. The competition was first started in 1995 and continued in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, and 2012. Ireland won the first two tests as well as the one in 2011, with the US winning the remaining 5. The game is usually held on or around 17 March to coincide with Saint Patrick's Day.
 * The major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada that play during March often wear special third jerseys to acknowledge the holiday. Examples include the Buffalo Sabres (who have worn special Irish-themed practice jerseys), Toronto Maple Leafs (who wear Toronto St. Patricks throwbacks), New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, and most Major League Baseball teams. The New Jersey Devils have worn their green-and-red throwback jerseys on or around Saint Patrick's Day in recent years.

title: Saint Patrick's Day


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Talk:John Fogerty

His Rickenbacker guitar
I saw Jon Fogerty in concert tonight. He had a Rickenbacker. He said that it was used on the old CCR records, but he lost it in 1972 or 73. He said that he got it back about a year ago. That would be a good thing to put in the article, if it can be sourced. In fact, it would be good to list his instruments. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 06:51, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

 * I found an article about it. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 15:09, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

"Current" residence
Under the "Personal Life" section, the author has written and erroneously cited (#55) that John Fogerty and his wife Julie live in Redding, California. I do not believe that is accurate, because the cited publication makes no mention of his residence and further research indicates that he and his wife live in Hidden Valley, California.   I hesitate to make any changes to this information, but do believe the reference to his living in Redding should be removed. MizKatz (talk) 02:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Discipline and focus on performance
There is a good, brief quote in ‘’Fortunate Son’’ reflecting his personal discipline, non-use of drugs and expectation of professionalism in performances. The topic is only a few sentences long and I think belongs in his CCR section here rather than in the CCR main article as it is about his personal outlook. Does anyone object? …Otherwise I’ll add it. Zatsugaku (talk) 17:32, 30 August 2020 (UTC)

Military
The military service part needs to be edited for clarity by somebody who actually was in the military. Several aspects of the article as now written make no sense if you know how reserve components operated back then. The part that does make sense is the assertion that he managed to slip into a reserve component and that they backdated it to predate the draft notice, but it was almost impossible to get into the Reserves too. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.49.27.38 (talk) 17:45, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

Pantheism
search Fogerty's book for the word "pantheism" and you will not find it. You will find a discussion of God's nature. Looking in a dictionary to find your definition is classic original research. On a separate note, the reference you used pointed to Amazon.com for Fortunate Son information. We don't do that, we use a non-commercial clearinghouse such as Google Books. Google Books even has most of the book scanned in so we can read it online. That's why I changed your reference. Elizium23 (talk) 21:38, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi, Elizium!

Once again, I disagree. I pulled those definitions for you in an attempt to demonstrate the accuracy of the use of the term in my original edit. The term was not researched for the edit nor could I tell you for certainty when or where I learned the term; probably 7th grade. "Pantheism" is a noun; "pantheistic" is the adjective form. If a particular noun is best described by particular adjectives, then those adjectives should be used. In my view, "more pantheistic" is the best description of Fogerty's view of God as outlined in his book when compared to Catholicism. If I correctly understand your logic, no adjective could be applied to any noun unless that adjective first appeared in the source. Fogerty also never used the phrase "nature of God" in his book. Should that also not be used here? But that is what he is discussing, and his view on it is a more pantheistic view than the view of Catholicism.

If Fogerty had said, "I think there's more than one god floating around out there," could "polytheistic" not have been used to describe this view simply because Fogerty didn't actually say "polytheism" in the book? In the book, he also talks about a positive change in his world view after he met his second wife, but I don't think he ever says "more optimistic" when comparing his latter outlook with his former. Would it, therefore, be a violation of Wikipedia's original research policy to say something along the lines of, "In his autobiography, Fogerty discusses developing a more optimistic outlook after meeting his second wife: '[Block quote from book supporting the assertion in the preceding sentence],'" simply because Fogerty doesn't describe it himself as "more optimistic"? I cannot begin to tell you where or when I learned the terms "polytheism" or "optimism," and I will not be finding a source for their definitions to support their use in this example. Does this constitute "original research"?

Regardless, in your first edit, you removed the entire phrase after "original sin," leaving no introduction for the block quote of Fogerty's views. As the sentence stands now, it is better but poorly constructed at the end:

"In his autobiography, Fogerty spoke negatively about his experiences with the Church, deriding the Christian doctrine of original sin and discussing the nature of God:"

"Discussing the nature of God" does not reinforce the contrast between his Catholic upbringing and current views, which is how the sentence is otherwise constructed. Although I still believe the best construction would be to apply the phrase "more pantheistic" (because that would best describe the disparity between his upbringing and current views and allow for a single, coherent sentence as an intro to his quote), if that is not allowable, it would be better to break the "nature of God" segment into a separate sentence to introduce the quote. Do you concur?

In regards to the Amazon link, I am aware of Wikipedia's policy in that regard, and I have no idea how that possibly happened. I did re-use some previously entered sources on my edits without checking to see if the sources were valid; perhaps this was the cause of my error. Regardless, my apologies. I will be more diligent in the future.

On a final note, I am still unclear on why his autobiography is not an acceptable source for the quote and is subsequently fitted with a "non-primary source" editing template. Thanks! Rmrarchiver (talk) 23:12, 15 February 2021 (UTC) — Rmrarchiver (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

 * I do not know why we are allocating so much time, space and effort to discussing Fogerty's religion when it is clearly a minuscule part of his life. WWGB (talk) 01:16, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

 * Hi, WWGB! First, I wouldn't say it is a minuscule part of his life as his autobiographical epilogue is dedicated to elaborating on his spiritual view of the universe as it is laid out in his song "Mystic Highway," which was one of his two most recent songs at the time of the book's publishing. He also spends some time earlier in the book discussing his previous experiences with religion, which appear to have had a lasting negative impact. Clearly, religion and spirituality have meaning to Mr. Fogerty, and his views and experiences are certainly relevant and interesting aspects of his life.

 * Regardless, the bulk of the space, time, and effort has been spent not on Mr. Fogerty's religion itself but on the allowability of the use of the adjective "pantheistic" under Wikipedia's original research rules when no form of the word can be found in the source. On the surface, not being able to use an adjective that appropriately describes the element at hand, simply because no form of the word can be found in the source, does not appear to make sense. I, for one, do not mind spending time and effort trying to understand the reasoning behind a rule that initially makes no sense to me. I also still do not understand why the source was flagged with "primary source" template. If I don't understand the issue with my action, I might very well make the same mistake again, and I would like to avoid that. I feel I can make valid contributions to Wikipedia, but not without understanding the nuances, which I am clearly missing despite reading Wikipedia's rules beforehand. If the "Talk" section is not for discussing the appropriateness of edits, then for what is it?

 * However, as I've already said, in regard to this page specifically, I believe the section in question can be edited for a better flow of relevant info without using the word "pantheistic," since that seems to be a point of contention. If there are no objections. I will make the edit.

 * Note, again, I still do not know why the source was flagged and, subsequently, under what circumstances it can be removed.

 * Per No original research, "Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable, published secondary sources ...". If Fogerty published that the Earth is flat, but no secondary sources commented on that, then his opinion is not considered notable. Likewise, if his thoughts on religion are not covered by others, then they are not notable, and hence not worthy of inclusion in this article. WWGB (talk) 02:36, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

 * I find it interesting that you have switched your objection. Originally, you didn't think religion should be included because it was a minuscule part of his life. When I pointed to his own work indicating that it was more than a minuscule part of his life, you changed your objection to "religion shouldn't be included because no one else has covered it."

 * Does a secondary source quoting Fogerty's references to religion and/or spiritual concepts count? Because in a recent interview with Billboard, Fogerty said, "I realize you cannot legislate people's hearts, but it blows my mind that religion and faith in God wasn't enough for some people to see that being racially prejudiced and biased in the way the legal system works is just wrong. It's wrong in the presence of God." Fogerty is once again speaking in terms of spirituality, and this time, it's reported by a secondary source. Or this article from the website of a former Independent, Guardian, and Observer editor that shares this quote from Fogerty: “I just want to say what a great country we live in, and God bless the men and women who protect us.” While a minor mention on Fogerty's part, clearly, there is a religious aspect to his life, and it has inevitably seeped into press coverage.

 * In addition, I point to Identifying and using primary sources: "An article about a person: The person's autobiography, own website, or a page about the person on an employer's or publisher's website, is an acceptable (although possibly incomplete) primary‡ source for information about what the person says about himself or herself. Such primary sources can normally be used for non-controversial facts about the person and for clearly attributed controversial statements." I do not see why the autobiography cannot be used for the quote. In the quote, Fogerty explains his religious views (making a statement about himself) and such views ("We are God") are certainly controversial in many circles. The same logic would apply if Fogerty stated his belief that the earth is flat, as in your example. A controversial statement about himself from a primary source. Therefore, even if no secondary source has covered that specific passage, in my view, it doesn't negate the relevance of Fogerty's sentiment to his life nor preclude it from being included on his Wikipedia page.

 * As you have offered no indisputable reasoning for excluding coverage of Fogerty's religious views in the entry, I stand by the validity of including them and using his book as a source. Rmrarchiver (talk) 21:37, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

 * I personally don't think the section on religion adds anything relevant to the article. The majority of other artists don't have a similar entry and there is nothing significant in what Fogerty has said to mark him out as an warranted exception.  My vote would be to take it out completely.  David T Tokyo (talk) 19:02, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

 * This is a reasonable argument for the section's complete removal. Another option would be to retain the info of his Catholic roots and move to "Early life" section, which already mentions his Catholic schooling. The semi-protected Paul McCartney article is formatted similarly. Rmrarchiver (talk) 23:44, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

 * I just noticed the single-purpose account tag added after my earlier comment and would like to respond. I am a long-time Wikipedia reader, and over the last few years, Wikipedia has seemed to me to become a less and less reliable source for updated information on given topics. As someone with knowledge and experience in research, writing, and a variety of fields, I decided to join as a contributor. I chose as my first article a subject with whom I was already familiar, on whom I already possessed several sources, and whose page was, in my view, lacking in relevant information. Wikipedia has always seemed to encourage contribution, and I felt I could help make the site better by providing relevant, up-to-date, properly sourced information, which is what I strived to do in my first round of edits this past weekend.

 * Unfortunately, during my first editorial discussion, I have been bombarded with non-sequitur arguments and, now, what appears to be a personal accusation against my motives. I am now beginning to wonder if the reason Wikipedia has fallen behind in recent years is the poor of treatment of new contributors who are genuinely attempting to gain their footing in editing but are being met with a frigid reception from established editors. Although it was a (mostly) fun 4-day experience, after this discussion, I am not sure I will continue to contribute to the site, no doubt a welcome departure for my partners in discourse. I welcome anyone to remove any edit I made to any page, and encourage established editors to please be more understanding of freshman contributors in the future. Wikipedia is still the standard in internet encyclopedias, but if it continues on its current trajectory, that might not always be the case. I'll leave you with the following: "We don't know who discovered water, but we know it wasn't the fish." Thanks for your time! Rmrarchiver (talk) 03:31, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Covers
We should start a section on covers of Fogerty’s songs done by other artists. -Wwallacee (talk) 16:19, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:John Fogerty