In America today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by the religious and non-religious, Irish and non-Irish alike. The day is a busy one for bars and restaurants and usually invokes images of leprechauns, shamrocks and lots of green. But the March 17 holiday originally began as a Catholic festival named after Ireland's patron saint, and the man credited with Christianizing the Emerald Isle.
For Joseph Breheny, a third-year exchange student from Dublin, the day retains its religious significance.
"It's a religious festival, so people go to Mass," he said of St. Patrick's Day celebrations in his native Ireland. "You wear clovers on your jacket. It's pretty much like any other Mass; it's just a lot more green, I suppose."
Conor O'Boyle, treasurer of the University's Irish Society, explained that because St. Patrick's day is considered a holy day of obligation in Ireland, all practicing Catholics are expected to attend Mass. Although the day holds much more religious importance there than it does in the United States, the Irish observation is not without its own celebratory elements.
Breheny said that in addition to Mass, parades commemorating all things Irish dominate the day's activities.
"In my hometown, you'd have all the local [sports] teams and local art groups get dressed up and parade," he said. "It's basically a cultural festival."
In terms of national pride, Breheny explained that the event is similar to Independence Day in America.
"As you have fourth of July, we have St. Patrick's Day," he said. "The whole country gets the day off."
Unfortunately, Breheny said he would have to spend today - his first St. Patrick's Day in the United States - driving a bus until 3 a.m. for the University Transit Service.
"I accidentally picked the time," he said.\nAlthough he plans to celebrate during the weekend, he said U.S. festivities likely will lack Irish authenticity.
"I'll see them just as parties, but not as real St. Patty's day parties," he said. "There's no kind of Irish backing to it."
Irish Society member Joe Chelak said his group hopes to foster a greater appreciation of Irish culture at the University. He said he thought some local St. Patrick's Day celebrations lost sight of the holiday's original meaning.
"The focus is more on the drink than on celebrating the connection to Saint Patrick," Chelak said. "The idea of drinking on St. Patrick's Day itself is not bad, but when St. Patrick's day becomes a day to drink and not to celebrate Irish culture, then that's stepping over the line."
In his own recognition of the holiday, Chelak said he plans to relax and listen to Irish music.
In an effort to embrace the Irish spirit of the holiday, Sam Carrigan, Brown College public relations chair, said residents there have a few St. Patrick's Day traditions of their own.
He said today, a number of Brown College residents will consume traditional Irish foods and beverages and watch films such as "Leprechaun" or Disney's "The Luck of the Irish."
"People have gotten together to do the eating, drinking and watching bad movies for a long time," he said. But he added that new activities may be introduced this year.
"Some people want to host a river dance flash mob," Carrigan said. "Other people are trying to start something where they hit each other with soft green objects, like foam hams or green teddy bears, and impart the luck of the Irish in that manner."
The many ways of observing St. Patrick's Day on Grounds will range from solemn to silly. But regardless of how one commemorates it - or whether traditional meanings of the holiday are still recognized - the day is always a reason to get together.
"It's a celebration," Breheny said.
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