Rethinking St Patrick's Day
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Why Do we drink so much on March 17?
My grandfather passed away from alcohol abuse when my mother was twelve. My first 18 St. Patrick’s Days did not have a drop of alcohol.
Originally published March 2021
I grew up in a proudly Irish household on my mother’s side of the family. On St. Patrick’s Day, my sisters and I were always visited by a leprechaun who played tricks on us. There were upside down cans, green water in the toilet, and one year he stole a bowl of green jello from the refrigerator and ate half of it. My mom would hide bags of minty green jelly candies in paper bags in the backyard and my sisters and I would run around to try and find our candy. We danced our own Ceilidhs around the living room to classic Irish music. For dinner, there was soda bread with raisins - always fresh from the oven, and a treat we looked forward to all year.
I started thinking about this recently, and really connected with that feeling of pure joy at being a child and celebrating my ancestors. I wondered when and why we even began drinking on March 17 and decided to look into it.
St. Patrick's Day first started to honor of Saint Patrick on the anniversary of his death, which falls during Lent - a period of restriction leading up to Easter. For one day, and one day only, Catholics were allowed to drink and eat as much as they wanted, and then it was back to observing Lent the next day. Eventually, St. Patrick's Day became less about the man and more about general Irish traditions, culture and history marked with feasting and drinking.
What was once a day meant for families and parades, St. Patrick’s Day is now the fourth most-celebrated drinking day in North America. Sadly, all around the world, getting drunk on March 17 has become synonymous with Ireland, and its reputation as a country of alcoholics. The sad thing is that this couldn’t be further from the truth (although alcohol use disorder (AUD) is slightly more of a social issue in Ireland than Canada and the US).
So why do we all drink on St. Patrick’s Day? My position on this is a bit uninformed, but I believe some of the blame lies with alcohol marketing campaigns, supercharging a holiday aimed to sell more alcohol. However, I’m fairly sure most of us started drinking on St. Pat’s because of social pressure - wanting to fit in, wanting to have a reason to celebrate, wanting to be social. As humans, we all look for reasons to feel joy. As children, we seek green candy and as adults, we seek social connection.
Recently, Dublin housed a pub called the Virgin Mary, the first non-alcoholic bar in the country. It was a laughable idea to many, but I looked on the venture with admiration. It closed in 2023, but not before making it’s point. Simultaneously Guinness 0.0 launched in Ireland and was lauded at pubs across the country. The country has also implemented very harsh penalties for drunk driving, which has also helped force the hands of barkeeps hesitant to put non-alcoholic options on their menu. The tide sure is changing for Irish socializing - but there’s still a long way to go.
Back in 2020/2021, when we were all socially isolated because of the pandemic, there wasn’t any pressure to drink. It was a good time to try and find my childish joy in the celebration of St. Pat’s again and share that with my own kids. As Taylor Swift says “It’s my place and I make the rules”. I pulled up some Irish music, made a soda bread, watched that cheesy vintage Disney movie about the leprechaun and tricked my kids to believing a leprechaun wrapped our TV in green paper. Beer is not actually necessary to celebrate Irish culture - whether you’re Irish or not. So this year try a mocktail, drink some non-alcoholic stout, make some corned beef and watch David Letterman’s streaming episode with Bono. You’ll find a new appreciation for March 17.
Read our review of 0.0 Guinness here or visit our St. Patrick’s Day recipe collection.
Slainte friends!
*A rethinking drinking tip for you: hops, the main ingredient in beer, provides several heart healthy nutrients that end up getting obliterated by the alcohol in your system. Alcohol-free beer delivers all the same great benefits including the taste, but minus the alcohol and hangover afterwards.
