Do you celebrate St Patrick’s Day if you’re not of Irish Descent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Messes?? Is this a new fad like the elf on the shelf?

My kids are of half Irish descent, but we learned about most of this when they were in elementary school. The leprechaun used to come into the classroom and mess it all up and the kids thought it was great. So I started doing some of it at home - green milk, green water in the Brita, green water in the toilet, a mess in the living room (pillows on the floor, etc). It was always fun to see the kids' reactions when they woke up.

OK, so yes, a Pinterest fad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Irish American here who grew up in a pretty Irish American area. We didn’t have any of this leprechaun stuff, we celebrated by spending time with family, probably listening to a bit more trad music than usual and making soda bread.
I don’t think the leprechaun stuff has anything to do with actual Irish Americans. It’s just a trend that got started at some point. I find it super annoying adding all these additional things a parent has to do for every dang holiday.

you sound fun

[Anonymous]

We look for the wee folk.

[Anonymous]

I’m not of Irish descent. Growing up in the 70s and 80s people would pinch you if you didn’t wear green in school so sometimes I’d remember to wear green. When I went to college, St Patrick’s Day was just another excuse to hit the bars or party. I ended up dating and marrying someone of Irish descent but we don’t celebrate. I have had friend over the years who are enormously into celebrating but none go to mass. My understanding is Americans popularized the drinking part and in Ireland it was about church.

[Anonymous]

I’m a 54 yo woman with no Irish heritage. My understanding was that “everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s day”. As a child we always celebrated by wearing green and pinching those who didn’t. Sometimes we might watch a movie like The Quiet Man, Darby O’Gill and the Little People or Finian’s Rainbow. There were lots of leprechaun and shamrock decorations at businesses and schools. As times changed, the pinching stopped, but we still wore green. When I found Irish soda bread in stores that was added to our family’s festivities.

Messes were never part of the celebration. That sounds like the same kind of folderol as Elf on the Shelf and neighborhood “booing” where people are pressured into going to a lot of trouble because someone bored invented a custom. I’m grateful that I’m old enough that these practices weren’t established when my now grown children were still kids.

[Anonymous]

I’m 1/2 Irish, 3rd generation. TBH, my Irish family never celebrated any of this, but they were part of generations that wanted to blend in and not stick out as immigrants. There used to be some shame around Irish immigrants.
When my kids were young, we did leprechaun traps because the school did.
I honestly find dying milk or toilets green to be more about posting on Insta than anything else. Over the top, look at me vibe. And a total waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Messes?? Is this a new fad like the elf on the shelf?

My kids are of half Irish descent, but we learned about most of this when they were in elementary school. The leprechaun used to come into the classroom and mess it all up and the kids thought it was great. So I started doing some of it at home - green milk, green water in the Brita, green water in the toilet, a mess in the living room (pillows on the floor, etc). It was always fun to see the kids' reactions when they woke up.

OK, so yes, a Pinterest fad.

It's the same people who do the elf on the shelf. I'm part Irish and we celebrate in a low key way but never the leprechaun stuff and never did Elf either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a 54 yo woman with no Irish heritage. My understanding was that “everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s day”. As a child we always celebrated by wearing green and pinching those who didn’t. Sometimes we might watch a movie like The Quiet Man, Darby O’Gill and the Little People or Finian’s Rainbow. There were lots of leprechaun and shamrock decorations at businesses and schools. As times changed, the pinching stopped, but we still wore green. When I found Irish soda bread in stores that was added to our family’s festivities.

Messes were never part of the celebration. That sounds like the same kind of folderol as Elf on the Shelf and neighborhood “booing” where people are pressured into going to a lot of trouble because someone bored invented a custom. I’m grateful that I’m old enough that these practices weren’t established when my now grown children were still kids.

I literally just said the same thing right after you ha. Great minds think alike. This is not a thing some of us grew up doing but there are apparently a lot of people with too much time on their hands. My kids are young, but I'm an older parent so we skip a lot of these new fangled time wasters.

[Anonymous]

I lived my childhood in Scotland, and no one celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Why would I celebrate from even further away?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


I lived my childhood in Scotland, and no one celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Why would I celebrate from even further away?

Why would you? Are you saying Scottish and Irish are the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m 1/2 Irish, 3rd generation. TBH, my Irish family never celebrated any of this, but they were part of generations that wanted to blend in and not stick out as immigrants. There used to be some shame around Irish immigrants.
When my kids were young, we did leprechaun traps because the school did.
I honestly find dying milk or toilets green to be more about posting on Insta than anything else. Over the top, look at me vibe. And a total waste.

Yes, so wasteful! My Irish grandmother would NEVER condone ruining perfectly good milk with green dye or making a mess *on purpose* that then your mother would just have to clean up after. WTH? She'd assign some extra rosaries for nonsense like that.

[Anonymous]

Most of our holidays come from somewhere else so the origin is besides the point. I’m not Turkish either but I did Santa Claus when the kids were little.

If you want to participate as Americans do, pick your level of participation and have fun with it. I personally don’t mess with leprechauns but definitely do the traditional American meal. If there is a parade nearby, we’ll go. When I was younger, I’d be in a bar. Don’t overthink it.

[Anonymous]

I am 100% Irish ☘️ and we didn’t do any of the green milk or leprechaun stuff. I will bake an Irish Bread today for the family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always eat corned beef and cabbage, which my Irish friends tell me accrual Irish people don't do at all

My Irish SIL and her parents (immigrated from Ireland) make corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots every year. Their cabbage dish also has salt pork so I think that is what makes it more authentic.

[Anonymous]

My DH is at least 1/4 Irish, I’m 0%, that I know of, so our kids are at least 1/8 Irish.

We are having corned beef, potatoes and cabbage tonight!