Every year on March 17th, Americans go all out with green, from dressing in the color head to toe to eating and drinking stuff in the same shade while we cheer for parades with shamrocks in hand. While St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, this isn’t the same way they celebrate in Ireland.
It turns out, some of our favorite traditions for the holiday aren’t really Irish at all. These are some St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that actually got started here in the U.S.
- Parades - One of the most festive ways to enjoy the spirit of the holiday is with a parade featuring pipe and drum bands wearing traditional garb honoring Irish culture, but the parade tradition didn’t begin in Ireland. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was on March 17th, 1762 in Manhattan when Irish soldiers stationed with British troops held a procession. Dublin didn’t have its first parade for the holiday until 1931.
- Corned beef and cabbage - This meal will be cooked up by people across the county in honor of the holiday, but it’s not really a traditional Irish St. Patrick’s Day meal. It’s what struggling Irish immigrants started eating in New York City because it was cheaper than the ham and cabbage they commonly ate back in Ireland and soon became a staple in immigrant households.
- Green beer - Drinking a beer that’s a bright shade of green would be weird on any day except March 17th and this annual tradition has been happening in the U.S. for more than a century. It was started way back in 1914 at a social club in the Bronx in New York City, when Dr. Thomas Hayes Curtin, an Irish immigrant, came up with the idea. He wanted the Schnerer Club totally decked out in green, including the beer, and people have been drinking it ever since.
- Dyeing a river green - The Chicago River is dyed green every year for St. Patrick’s Day, but this tradition didn’t start in Ireland either. It began in the Windy City in 1962, when Chicago’s Plumber’s Union decided to dump 100-pounds of dye into the river for the holiday. It’s still a real crowd-pleaser and the dye is non-toxic, so it’s safe for the environment.
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