What Do the Irish Really Think of St. Patrick's Day in America?

Irish AOLers Conor, Adam, Leona, Brian, Emer and Diarmuid

Hi folks -- so around this time of year, some of my Irish-from-Ireland friends start to get irate, because we Americans insist on abbreviating St. Patrick's Day as "St. Patty's Day."

"Patty," they'll say, "is a girl's name!"

I mentioned this last year, and I also said that "St. Patty's Day" is part of the AOL Style Guide and it's pretty universal over here, so they'll kind of have to grit their teeth. (PattyPattyPattyPattyPatty.)

Here at AOL, we've got a bunch of Irish folks over from Ireland. And I'm fortunate to count a bunch of them as my friends. But why are so many of them working here?

High tech has been big in Ireland since that whole Celtic tiger economic boom in the 1990s. (It helps that they speak English. Mostly. Sometimes they'll use Hiberno-English idioms and we'll be like, "What?")

So, about 10 years ago, AOL established a call center in Ireland, and then a few years back, they set up the Dublin Tech Dev Center, which has a bunch of programmers and developers.

Because of those established relationships, there's been a good amount of crossover, as people who started in Ireland transferred over to the States.

Now, seeing as how that whole St. Patty/St. Paddy thing is one thing that sets us apart, I asked some of the Irish folk to share some of their thoughts about St. Patrick's Day, and especially how it's celebrated over here.

Here's what Adam, in Portal Services, says:

"The most obvious difference is the fact that St. Patrick's day is not a public holiday here, which would tend to limit the occasion unless it falls on a weekend.

For the first time since I arrived in the US (2004), the day will fall on a weekend, so it will be interesting to see the difference in terms of celebration levels. Besides the Paddy vs. Patty thing (which you already know about), I find that the US version of Patrick's day is pretty cool, and it's certainly a good time to be from Ireland and living in the US.

Though on that note, actually getting people to understand that you are actually Irish (as in born there) as opposed to being Irish and from Pittsburgh or wherever can be a bit of a challenge, particularly as the night wears on and people get more 'merry.'"

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Did he say St. Patrick's Day is an actual, day-off holiday? It only feels like one here.

This is what Conor, in International Product Management, says:

"I always felt it was celebrated more by expats than at home. Despite recent efforts to festival-ize Paddy's Day (please don't call it Patty's Day), it's really just another day off work and for the kids, a break from their Lenten fasting.

However, this year it's all about the Rugby!

Oh, and keep those green lattes away from me!"

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Incidentally, that picture is cropped from a wider shot -- it's of Conor kind of... well, he says it's dancing. I'm not sure, myself.

This is from Brian, in Core Services:

"Now that I live in the US, I finally get to see people celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I still think my favorite St Patrick's days have been in Charm City :-)

Ooooh, and it's called Paddy's Day, not Patty's Day.

The best part of St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is the parade. Once people go to see it, you can get a good seat in the pub. Then you dont move until the pub closes :-)"

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I like the way he thinks. And if you don't know, Charm City is Balmer (spelled "Baltimore"), hon.

And here's Leona, Journals Technical Project Manager, who was inspired by my questions to write more in her own blog entry:

How St. Patrick's day is celebrated in the US has always amused me -- here are a few of my observations:

* The wearing of the green. Getting pinched for not wearing green is an American thing. In Ireland we traditional wore sprigs of shamrock on our jackets, or the kids would wear St. Patrick's Day badges.

* One thing I definitely would not eat on St. Patrick's day is corned beef and cabbage. When I was growing up in Ireland, we usually would make an extra special dinner that day, but it would not be corned beef. We do eat corned beef and cabbage on a regular basis, but it would not be made on Patrick's day dinner. What I would love to eat this Saturday is some fresh Irish spring lamb!"

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See more of Leona's musings on Irish breakfasts, Irish brown bread, the San Francisco St. Patrick's Day Parade, two cute red-headed nieces and more in her blog entry.

Here's a couple of late additions. First, here's Emer, a Technical Project Manager:

"Washington, DC has so many St. Patrick's Day/Night events it promises to be full of Irish fun and frolics on one of the best holidays of the year!

March is for St. Patrick's Day, but it's also time for the Six Nations Rugby Championship and NCAA college basketball.

I'm hoping to spend the day with fellow expatriates and my American friends for some green beer, Irish food, live music, and good times as we watch one of bracket-buster games."

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So it looks like Emer is going to enjoy her St. Paddy's Day (she also wants you all to support Ireland in tomorrow's Six Nations Rugby Championship)

Lastly, this is Diarmuid, who works on AIM Pages; he's in the Dublin Tech Dev Center, and went above and beyond with his thoughts on the attributes of the Irish that stand front and center on St. Patrick's Day -- the following is an excerpt; I've posted the full entry on my AIM Pages blog:

"We (the Irish) are well known for a few things, all of which come to the fore on our Saint's day (who ironically enough was not even an Irishman). I'll take you thru a few of the better known attributes.

The first thing we're known for is probably the amount we drink of the auld sup (alcohol). Our favourite brews are of course Guinness and Irish Whiskey (not that Scotch stuff). The word whiskey comes from the Irish "Uisce Beatha" which means "water of life" and we certainly do drink like its water ;-) . In fact, drink ten pints of Guinness in one sitting (no mean feat) and the Irish Foreign Department issues you with an Irish passport! [Editor's Note: I really hope it doesn't need to be said, but that's a joke.]

The important thing to remember is why we drink, not for sorrow but for joy, which brings me onto point two, enjoyment. We're also very well known for enjoying ourselves or having the craic (pronounced the same as the word crack). This word/phrase "having the craic," has unfortunately often produced much confusion in the US when we go around looking for some Craic :-\  or when we say things like, "We had some great craic last night."
[...]
Slán agus beannacht (goodbye and blessings)

Diarmuid"

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See the rest of Diarmuid's musings on the Irish gift of gab, welcoming natures, and what it takes to be honorary Irish, in his full blog entry.

So, those are some thoughts from some of the Irish at AOL. As I was editing their words, I noticed that they didn't always capitalize the "day" in "St. Patrick's day." They also refer to it as "Patrick's day," which I've never seen here -- it's always "St. Patrick's Day." But they're generally good people.

Many thanks to Adam, Conor, Brian, Leona, Emer and Diarmuid for their observations.

If you have your own thoughts to share about how the Irish, Americans, or any else celebrates St. Patrick's Day, please leave a comment below.

Happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone!

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: irish, aol, st. patrick's day, PattyPattyPattyPattyPatty