I used it as an excuse to drink heavily when I was in my 20s. Does that count?

I am the least Hallmark holiday/social media person ever, but my kids learned about the leprechaun stuff at school when they were small. They built leprechaun traps themselves and I spent 30 seconds putting green food dye in the toilet for them to wake up to. That was it.

My mom’s family is 100% of Irish descent (and Catholic) and her family loves St Patrick’s Day (although this is the first I’m hearing of leprechaun messes and traps…). To her family, it was a celebration of their Irish heritage and a recognition that for many years people of Irish descent/Catholics were looked down on in the US. My relatives still talk about how it was such a huge deal when JFK was elected President, a big sea change. It’s really an Irish American celebration!

40 years ago everyone at our school wore green, Irish ancestry or not.

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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.

Corned beef is not a thing in Ireland. The Irish ate it when they came over here, hence the association.

Yep, it's specifically an adaptation of bacon and cabbage bought from Jewish butchers in East coast cities in the US.

She died before I was born but my mom said her Irish grandma hated cabbage and would get annoyed whenever someone cooked it.

Probably over did it growing up. The same way my dad and his siblings loathe beets.

And why I hate tuna noodle casserole.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Corned beef is not a thing in Ireland. The Irish ate it when they came over here, hence the association.

Yep, it's specifically an adaptation of bacon and cabbage bought from Jewish butchers in East coast cities in the US.

She died before I was born but my mom said her Irish grandma hated cabbage and would get annoyed whenever someone cooked it.

Probably over did it growing up. The same way my dad and his siblings loathe beets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Corned beef is not a thing in Ireland. The Irish ate it when they came over here, hence the association.

Yep, it's specifically an adaptation of bacon and cabbage bought from Jewish butchers in East coast cities in the US.

She died before I was born but my mom said her Irish grandma hated cabbage and would get annoyed whenever someone cooked it.

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

Yes. It is. And it's ghastly.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Corned beef is not a thing in Ireland. The Irish ate it when they came over here, hence the association.

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first generation American who went to catholic schools growing up. Aside from wearing green I never celebrated st Patrick’s day. 30 years ago only the people of Irish descent decked out and celebrated it. Has this changed? My 6 year old woke up disappointed this morning expecting to see a mess and a green toilet because he learned it at school. I get that it’s fun but wondering what the norm is for families with no Irish heritage.

This definitely isn't true.

My granddad was Irish, my Dad's a citizen.

Just don't be obnoxious about it and my read is no one really cares. My granddad enjoyed the excuse to talk about growing up outside of Galway back in the day.

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!

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.

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.

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 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.