I’m posting this on March 17,St. Patrick’s Day, the day we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, and Irishness in general, by dancing to accordion-and-fiddle-based music, dyeing a river green, and enjoying a wee drink or three. But there’s a lot people get wrong about the holiday, so allow me to clear up some myths.
St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t always a day for partying
The association between boozing it up and March 17 is relatively recent. St. Patrick’s Day was observed in Ireland as early as the ninth century but it was largely a somber remembrance, not a celebration—it marks the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death, after all. It was a day when the dietary restrictions of Lent were lifted, which must have been a relief, but it wasn’t about drinking and having fun. It was about going to Mass. Pubs were closed by law on March 17 in Ireland up until
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