St Patrick’s Day Throwback!

Today is St Patrick’s Day and I thought it would be nice to do a ‘Tuesday Throwback’ from my memories of celebrating the Irish holiday!

I have found in England (or at least where I live) St Patrick’s Day is not celebrated – Unless it falls on a Friday night maybe!  A great example of the lack of celebration is when my cousin from America came to stay and she suggested going out for a few drinks to ‘celebrate’.  On a weekday night the local pub was pretty much empty, except for a drunk Irish man who was very loud and out celebrating on his own!

Of course, St Patrick’s Day is celebrated by the Irish and it seems to be widely celebrated in America too.  This weekend my Instagram feed was full of American’s attending parades and events.

The only time I have had a ‘real’ St Patrick’s Day celebration was in 2008 whilst on holiday in Barbados.  I am not sure it is celebrated particularly on the Caribbean island but as there are a lot of American’s who visit, some of the bars made it a theme for the evening.

The main bar in St Lawrence Gap which was really celebrating was the Irish bar, McBride’s.  On my recent visit to Barbados this was closed (I think just for a few weeks).  I have to say it was a really fun night.

What struck me was it was the sort of evening which brought people together to celebrate.  People are always in a good mood anyway when on holiday but I think it’s always great to have an excuse to party!

I am not sure why St Patrick’s Day is so widely celebrated.  Perhaps we should celebrate it more here, or even better St George’s Day seeing as that celebrates the patron saint of England?!

For me, any reason which brings people together in a positive way to build some community spirit can only be a good thing.  I could imagine over the coming years St Patrick’s Day getting bigger over here but I don’t think any night would match the fun night, wearing a silly hat on the tropical island of Barbados!

Do you celebrate St Patrick’s Day?  I would love to hear your stories!