Saint Patricks Day: a Religious Holiday?

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Saint Patrick’s Day: a Religious Holiday? Here in America, when people think of Saint Patrick’s Day, the last thing they have in mind is religion. This is because Irish Americans have drifted off of the traditional celebration of the death of a saint and have moved on to primarily celebrating their heritage. However, Irish Americans have been influenced to do so by their surroundings to make them believe that it’s a heritage celebration more than a religious celebration of a saint. Some such surroundings include the parades, the drinking aspect of the holiday, public schools, and how everyone celebrates as Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has primarily been a religious event. “Until the 1970’s, pubs were required by law to close on March 17th.” (Religion Facts). After all, the day is set aside to celebrate the death of a saint. “In Dublin, it is a weeklong event called St. Patrick’s Festival.” (Religion Facts). The Irish still celebrate the day in religious form, but no longer do the majority of Irish Americans. “When the Potato Famine hit in 1845, close to a million catholic Irish came to America to escape Ireland.” (History). This may be the roots of many Irish Americans today. With them they brought the tradition of St. Patrick’s Day. In the earlier years of the celebration here in America, the Irish left an impact on Americans “when newspapers portrayed the Irish as drunk, violent monkeys,” (Irish American heritage) after they took to the streets on St. Patrick’s Day. This left an immediate influence on Americans. The media’s influence has helped many Irish Americans associate this holiday as a drinking day for the Irish. As many of us have probably seen, during the holiday, commercials come on to remind us all to drink responsibly and not drive. The media however, does not stress the importance of the

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