Why do the Irish expect EVERYBODY to be Irish on St. Patti's Day?

[BeachBaby]

For instance, I've already seen at least 25 banners around town that proclaim "On St. Patrick's Day, EVERYBODY is Irish!!!!"

Last I checked, I'm a Polish/German girl 24/7/365.

What's behind this mantra?

[KamaAina]

1. Well, what do you expect in a country with a President named O'Bama?

[Midlodemocrat]

3. I have GOT to get one of those!!!!

:rofl:

[greatauntoftriplets]

33. I plan to wear my O'Bama shirt (same one) on Saturday.

And I am Irish.

[1gobluedem]

78. Where can I get one?

This Irishwoman loves it.

[Sequoia]

81. I remember when Reagan was president and on St. Patrick's Day

He was on the radio telling everyone to go out and be happy and drink beer. Seriously !! I'm part Irish and my wedding anniversary is on the day. However, I don't like those "Kiss Me I'm Irish" things.

[ReliantJ]

2. Are you saying you hate the Irish?

Is that what I'm hearing? :sarcasm: :grr:

[BeachBaby]

5. Actually, I could see the opposite as being true.

That anybody who isn't Irish isn't worthy. :shrug:

I'm not sure how you jumped to that conclusion from my post.

[ReliantJ]

7. So now you're saying

they're better than us? :mad: :sarcasm:

[BeachBaby]

10. Who's better than who?

Jesus - if you can't answer the question in the OP, just say so.

[geardaddy]

90. Don't you mean "Bejesus" or "Jaysus"?

:hide:

[LeftyMom]

4. In this case "Irish" is code for "slipping and falling in your own vomit drunk"

AKA "Lesbian wedding drunk" (Ask Lost and Haruka about that one.)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. "It's okay, we went to a lesbian wedding!"

Man, she was SOOO hung over the next day.

[AlCzervik]

12. was your wedding drunker than an Irish wake?

my first drinking one was at 15

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. It was about a tie

A few years ago, my (Irish) grandfather died. His funeral was on St. Patrick's Day. It was the best fucking funeral ever.

[AlCzervik]

25. Holy Shyte, that's big, i bet he would have wanted it that way.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

28. Oh yeah, totally, he was a drunk

We rented a room in a local bar, and had an open bar at the party. Afterwards, I went out and continued partying until 2am.

[AlCzervik]

6. i'm half irish and i don't even celebrate St. Patrick's day.

[TZ]

8. Well it is a big holiday in Ireland with St. Patrick being their patron saint...

So therefore, being Irish gives you an excuse to party/drink..IMHO, St. Patricks day is about drinking and little else..:shrug:. I also hated that "wear green or else get pinched" junk in elementary/jr. high school.

[BeachBaby]

11. Well, yeah - that's a given.

I'm wondering about the mantra that says that we should all be Irish on March 17th. It makes no sense to me.

[TZ]

15. heh. St. Patricks Day and sense is an oxymoron!

Personally if I were Irish, I might not like that my national holiday has been hijacked into a get drunk and act stupid day....

[BeachBaby]

20. I'm sticking to March 19th. See bif's post.

I won't get drunk off of pierogies. ;)

[TZ]

31. hmm

Maybe I should do that too being a bit Polish myself. I'm convinced that pierogies are a gentile version of the Jewish Knish btw...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

32. I've been to Ireland

Most days are like that in Dublin.

I love Dublin.

[geardaddy]

91. Exactly.

If that's the case, then we should all be African-American all through February.

[ReliantJ]

14. My dad is 50 and works at a shipment business

and they still do it

[bif]

13. 100% Polish! And I wear red on March 19.

St. Joseph's Day. Patron saint of Poland and Italy!

[BeachBaby]

16. WOOT!

Polish here, too. And I will proudly wear the red. :) :hi:

[Lavender Brown]

19. I wear the red too, if I remember

100% Italian. And I have to eat zeppole on St. Joseph's Day.

[bif]

29. The wearin' o' the red!

We have our day too. I'll have to remember to post this on the 18th as a reminder.

[SoxFan]

24. Poland+Italy=a really good ethnic joke

[Twillig]

17. Nobody likes to drink alone?

:beer:

:toast:

:hide:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. I don't expect everybody to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day

Of course, it was funny when my one friend (a black guy) went around telling everyone he was black Irish one year.

To me, it's a day to get drunk and wear my "Tiocfaidh Ár Lá" stuff, and my "St. Patrick, there are still snakes in the north" shirt. Actually, I wear that snakes in the north shirt about once a week.

[SoxFan]

21. I wish my Tiocfaidh Ár Lá shirt still fit!

Gotta get back down to fightin' weight.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

26. I've got it on a bumper sticker on my car, too

You can't outgrow that.

Cafepress has a ton of awesome Irish Republican stuff.

[Critters2]

38. What does that mean? nt

[PaddyBlueEyes]

40. It means "our day will come"

nt

[SoxFan]

52. You often see it on shirts, stickers, etc at Irish events

It's a nationalist rallying cry dating back to the days of the uprising against the British.

The other one you see a lot is "26+6=1", which refers to the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland, the 6 counties in the British controlled north, and one united Ireland.

[mainegreen]

23. Pffft. I'm English on St Patricks day.

So there.

:hide:

[BeachBaby]

27. Always startin' trouble, I see.

:rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. You better hide

[Critters2]

36. I'm part Scots-Irish.

Not brave enough to wear orange for the day, though.

[SoxFan]

53. Nice post, Ian Paisley!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

57. LOL

[rolltideroll]

83. So you occupy half your neighbors yard on St. Paddys?

That was just a joke, no offense intended. I'm a mick myself.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

86. ROFL

[Critters2]

34. Im 1/4 Irish, but that part expands on St. Pat's Day.

Which is really uncomfortable, if I forget to wear loose-fitting clothes.

[ReliantJ]

35. Too funny.

:toast:

[tanngrisnir3]

37. As someone with deep scottish heritage, may I just say, "Fuck all that shite"

[Critters2]

41. I'm Scots and Scots-Irish.

Alba go bragh!!

[PaddyBlueEyes]

39. Quit WHINING

THE REAL QUESTION IS......WHY WOULD ANYONE NOT WANNA BE IRISH????

[ReliantJ]

42. ...

:toast:

[TZ]

43. I was wondering when you would show up....

:rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

44. Yeah, seriously

[PaddyBlueEyes]

49. SLAINTE

:toast:

:beer:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

50. Slainte!

:toast:

[Jamastiene]

71. Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner.

:thumbsup:

[BeachBaby]

88. Whining? Hardly.

I asked a question, that's all.

[Fleshdancer]

45. The Irish don't care

it's the people throwing the parties and selling the t-shirts, buttons, and green beer that care.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

46. This is true...

until a few years ago...they didnt even have a parade in Dublin...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

48. And seriously, who the fuck drinks green beer?

Is there anything more disgusting in the world than green piss beer?

[PaddyBlueEyes]

51. drunk ass suburban kids

who cant afford a respectable pint or two (or 6 or 7) on the day..

[SoxFan]

55. Drunk ass suburban French-Canadian or italian kids

No decent Irishman would Coors Light spiked with green food coloring when there is Guiness, Harp, Bushmills, and Jaimesons to be had.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

64. SLAINTE

:toast:

[Sebastian Doyle]

101. I always wondered about that

They aren't even drinking Irish beer, for fucks sake. I've never seen green Guinness! :beer:

(I guess you could dye Harp green if you wanted to, but even that's darker than the standard US mass produced pisswater)

[Sanity Claws]

47. St. Patti's Day??

Sweetie, you certainly didn't grow up in NY or Boston.
THat is a forgivable offense, so long as you say five Hail Marys.
Anyway, it is St. Paddy's Day. The Irish for Patrick is Padric and generally shortened to Paddy.
This Irish lesson is my gift to you.

[Radical Activist]

54. I guess we could form mobs

and head toward the German part of town like they used to. I think it's a nice inclusive message.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

58. Huh?

[Radical Activist]

68. In 19th century America

there were often violent conflicts between German and Irish neighborhoods in many cities. So I think "everyone is Irish" is at least a step up.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

60. did you see the movie "Gangs of New York"

half my family were "Dead Rabbits"

[Radical Activist]

67. heh

yeah, not a bad movie.

[WolverineDG]

95. NINA

Some folks don't get it. My grandfather remembered seeing those signs.

dg

[Starry Messenger]

56. I always considered it more in the nature of an invitation.

Not an expectation. :) (I'm a 1/2 Irish-Scots/1/2 Allsorts) Is there a Polish/German day to observe? I'd be happy to oblige in turn. I'm good for any holiday that involves beer.

[Critters2]

62. Polish--Pulaski Day, which is school holiday in Illinois.

German--Von Steuben Day, which includes a great parade in Chicago. The parade that Ferris Bueller crashed was the Von Steuben Day parade, the real one!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

74. Me too...

And there's not a drop of Irish in me, unless you count the Guinness. ;-)

[Mike 03]

59. You've got it wrong. We Irish don't expect everyone to be Irish on Saint

Patty's Day. But everyone who is not Irish wants to pretend to be Irish on this day in order to party.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

61. It's Paddy's, not Patty's

But otherwise, you're correct.

[Mike 03]

70. Sorry, you are right. I stand corrected.

I should appreciate that day more than I do. For some reason I haven't really had a chance to enjoy it, thus I can't even spell it. LOL

My bad...

St. Paddy....

Saint Paddy's Day
St. Patrick's Day

My English Teacher, when I was in High School told me the most hilarious story I've ever heard about St. Patrick's day.

[Robeson]

63. Because we want everyone to feel like us the day after...

...

[mcctatas]

65. Um, we don't expect everyone to be Irish...

it's just that St. Patrick's day makes everyone WISH they were Irish ;)

[PaddyBlueEyes]

66. SLAINTE

:toast:

[BarenakedLady]

69. It's part of the plot

I'm sorry, I'm not allowed tell you more than that.

[av8rdave]

72. I've always wanted to be at least part Irish, FWIW

Partly because I love the people in Ireland. Partly because I want to be as Irish as Barack O'Bama.

[WildEyedLiberal]

73. Because the Irish are the feckin' best

Slainte!

[Dr. Strange]

75. Taxes.

It's how they make up the lost U2 taxes.

[rolltideroll]

76. We are trying to pull the rest of you guys up

at least one day a year

[rolltideroll]

77. What do you get

When you cross an Irish guy and a German guy?
A man too drunk to just follow orders.

[AngryAmish]

79. We don't expect it, but everybody wants to be Irish

It is our way of being inclusive.

Listen, we run this town. We have for as long as we can remember. St. Patrick's Day is just a little reminder to the rest of the population who their natural leaders are.

[BeachBaby]

85. Everybody wants to be Irish?

I can't say I know anybody who isn't Irish, wanting to be Irish. People are who people are, you know?

[AngryAmish]

96. The envy of the non-Irish is very strong

It is natural to envy those who are your natural betters. It is how people are made.

Denial only means you want it more.

[BeachBaby]

98. "Natural betters"?

How so?

[jmowreader]

99. Do ye remember the ad the Irish tourism board used to run?

The one that said, "Where else can you dance an Irish jig?"

Before they put uo the "visit Ireland" card, I thought "cool! I always liked Boston in the summertime!"

[La Lioness Priyanka]

80. ON gay pride day, everyone is gay. i wonder how that would fly with the same group

that puts up the everyone is irish banner

[BeachBaby]

84. Interesting question. n/t.

[WolverineDG]

97. I guess I'm one Irish who wouldn't have a problem with that

and I don't have a problem with gays marching in the St. Patrick's parade either.

dg

[Sebastian Doyle]

102. How about a gay Irish banner?

[RedCloud]

82. It's to get you plastered.

Sort of a rite of spring, end of winter thing too.

[Shell Beau]

87. Don't know and don't care because the Paddy's Day Parade is AWESOME!

:woohoo:

But I have a good bit of Irish blood! :shrug: :P

[Sky Masterson]

89. Because we Irish believe that everyone wants to be as perfect as we are

So we adopt the world for a day.

[geardaddy]

92. Because St. Patrick was a Welshman?

:hide:

Though Patrick's birthplace is debatable, most scholars seem to agree that he was born in the area of southeastern Scotland known as Strathclyde, a former Celtic kingdom and Welsh-speaking at the time. (However, a few scholars continue to regard St. David's in Pembrokeshire as the saint's birthplace; the tiny city was formerly directly in the path of missionary and trade routes to Ireland).

Many scholars believe that Patrick (Patricius or Padrig) was born in the still Welsh-speaking Northern Kingdom of Strathclyde of Romano-Brythonic stock around 385 AD at a place called Bannavem Taberniae (Banwen). His father was a deacon, Calpurnius. Not much is known of Patrick's early life, but it is believed he was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland. Escaping to Gaul, he then underwent religious instruction under Germanus and returned to Ireland to join other early missionaries, probably settling in Armagh. In his Confessio, a spiritual biography, Patrick describes his early adventures. His seventh century biographers claimed that he converted all of Ireland to Christianity. Other Information concerning his life comes from the Latin, "The Life of St. David", written in the late 11th century by Rhigfarch (Rhygyfarch) but supplemented by Geraldus Cambrensis around 1200.

Cymru ag Iwerddon am byth! (Wales and Ireland forever!)

[geardaddy]

93. St. Patti

[WolverineDG]

94. Actually it's the other way around nt

[billyoc]

100. We don't.