What do Americans who have green milk in their cereal expect when they get here?
More than 180,000 international tourists are expected to arrive in Ireland through Dublin Airport alone this St Patrick’s weekend, but what do they expect to find when they arrive?
While it is a major fixture in the American cultural calendar, does St Patrick’s Day in Ireland match the hype?
In Boston, where I’ve spent the past three Marches, it’s a time for students (Irish or otherwise) to paint their faces green, wreak general havoc and, mostly, drink heavily in public.
One of my fellow Bostonian students, Kiah Holmstrom, who will be one of the revellers in Dublin this weekend, said of her expectations for the parade: “I heard they don’t go as hard as us.”
In the US, St Patrick’s Day has quite a significant cultural heft, even for students like us who do not have Irish roots. Ms Holmstrom recalled how the holiday was celebrated when she was a child.
“My mom would dye my cereal milk green, you’d wear green to school or else you get pinched – just fun stuff like that,” she said.
Elle Giannandrea, an American student who studies at Trinity College, likened showing up to pre-school without a green shirt to “the end of the world”. But, truthfully, we had no idea why any of this was happening. You’d be hardpressed to find a non-Irish-American who knows the first thing about Saint Patrick.
I had no idea who the great snake-banisher was until I moved here two months ago. So, us international students are pretty excited to see how the Irish celebrate. As Ms Holmstrom puts it, “they’re still getting drunk, but they actually know why”.
Despite internationals being somewhat ignorant about the holiday’s significance, Ireland’s tourism industry revolves around them and their fascination with the patron saint.
In 2022, when the parade returned after a Covid-induced hiatus, Tourism Minister Catherine Martin said in a statement: “Ireland is open again for tourism and we cannot wait to roll out the ‘green carpet’ and welcome visitors from near and far.”
St Patrick’s Day, admittedly, is the main way that Americans engage with Irish culture. Ms Giannandrea said: “It’s odd because it’s something you celebrate your whole life, but it has nothing to do with your country.”
That a holiday based in national pride – not religion, not moral values, not even food – has traversed the Atlantic and become embedded in another nation’s culture is unique, and certainly
‘It’s difficult to tell if we’re taking our lead from the Irish or perverting what’s supposed to be a meaningful day’
something to be utilised by the tourism sector.
And yet, I wonder if it matters that we’ve extracted only the most glaring stereotypes of the Irish identity – the colour green, the drinking – for our celebration of, wouldn’t you know it, Irish pride. It’s difficult to tell whether we’re taking our lead from the Irish themselves or perverting what’s supposed to be a meaningful day.
In defence of the former, Irish people make up the largest ethnic group in Boston, where the most debaucherous of American St Patrick’s Day parades are held.
But, contemplating the latter, does it serve Irish-American heritage to have America’s main cultural engagement with Ireland be a booze-fuelled moderately violent riot?
I suppose I’ll find out how accurately we’ve been paying our respects tomorrow.