Spring Break
St. Patrick's Day: Livin' it up
Adam McDermott and Tara Maroney
Issue date: 3/17/05 Section: Focus
Leprechaun hats, rowdy barrooms and screeching bagpipes are all distinct associations that come to mind when St. Patrick's Day rolls around. While there are no rivers to be dyed in Storrs, plenty of green can be expected in people's outfits, not to mention the traditional dying of beer. As a sign shown on the brewery tour of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin says, "Everyone's Irish on March 17."
The irony of St. Patrick's Day and the revelry associated with it, is many people don't actually know who St. Patrick was.
"I'm Irish, so it means we have fun and eat corned beef and cabbage," said Stephanie Coburn, a 6th-semester recreational therapy major. "I'm taking an Irish class about Celtic and Irish myths, but I have no idea who Saint Patrick was."
The mythic persona of St. Patrick hints at a remarkable Irish man who drove the snakes out of Ireland. The rational explanation of St. Patrick's existence, however, tells of a young boy captured by slave traders from his father's home in Britain and sold into slavery in Ireland. Upon gaining his freedom, Patrick found God and proceeded to become an established figure in Christian history. He is celebrated on March 17 because that is the date of his death.
According to Mary Burke, a professor of Irish literature and a native of Ireland, the snakes are a metaphor representing the paganism displaced by the Christianity propagated by St. Patrick.
"There are no snakes in all of the British Isles as far as I know," Burke said.
In comparing the experience of St. Patrick's Day in her home country to celebrations in America, Burke said the day is slightly more low key and family focused since it's a national holiday which everyone has off.
Once, while teaching English in Tokyo, Burke had the unique opportunity to experience a multi-cultural interpretation of St. Patrick's Day.
"There were some Irish who turned up for it, but the Brazilians turned up en masse," Burke said. "It was a really cold March day in Tokyo and there were Brazilian women in spangly bikinis parading around the streets. It was brilliant. That has to be the most incongruous St. Patrick's Day parade ever."
The irony of St. Patrick's Day and the revelry associated with it, is many people don't actually know who St. Patrick was.
"I'm Irish, so it means we have fun and eat corned beef and cabbage," said Stephanie Coburn, a 6th-semester recreational therapy major. "I'm taking an Irish class about Celtic and Irish myths, but I have no idea who Saint Patrick was."
The mythic persona of St. Patrick hints at a remarkable Irish man who drove the snakes out of Ireland. The rational explanation of St. Patrick's existence, however, tells of a young boy captured by slave traders from his father's home in Britain and sold into slavery in Ireland. Upon gaining his freedom, Patrick found God and proceeded to become an established figure in Christian history. He is celebrated on March 17 because that is the date of his death.
According to Mary Burke, a professor of Irish literature and a native of Ireland, the snakes are a metaphor representing the paganism displaced by the Christianity propagated by St. Patrick.
"There are no snakes in all of the British Isles as far as I know," Burke said.
In comparing the experience of St. Patrick's Day in her home country to celebrations in America, Burke said the day is slightly more low key and family focused since it's a national holiday which everyone has off.
Once, while teaching English in Tokyo, Burke had the unique opportunity to experience a multi-cultural interpretation of St. Patrick's Day.
"There were some Irish who turned up for it, but the Brazilians turned up en masse," Burke said. "It was a really cold March day in Tokyo and there were Brazilian women in spangly bikinis parading around the streets. It was brilliant. That has to be the most incongruous St. Patrick's Day parade ever."