St. Patrick's Day, An American Holiday

Excerpts from the Opinion Journal:

Two million people will watch or participate in the New York City parade alone, while all but two Irish cabinet ministers this year are leaving their country to attend celebrations elsewhere. How did this happen? ...

As more Irish moved to America, particularly after the 1845 potato famine, the holiday became a way for them to band together, celebrate their heritage and thumb their noses at those older settlers who looked down on their Irish ways. The leprechaun, traditionally an evil sprite in Irish lore, didn't become associated with the holiday until Disney's 1959 film "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" gave him a friendlier persona.

Back home in Ireland, however, the holiday stayed a muted affair. While merrymakers downed pints of Guinness and shots of whiskey at the ubiquitous Irish bars the world over, the pubs in Ireland itself weren't even allowed to be open on St. Patrick's Day until the 1970s. A National Public Radio crew in the early '80s called a bartender for a "live report" from St. Paddy's Day central, only to find that the mystified Dubliner didn't know there was supposed to be a party going on.

When I went to Ireland I ran across a contest some company was running over there. The 1st Prize was a trip to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City. (Cue the salsa commercial sound bite: "New York City!?!?!")