I find it really troubling that we have a holiday seemingly dedicated to binge drinking and an ethnic stereotype. That would be St. Patrick’s Day. Just poking around, I stumbled on this:
It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without a good drink and the Irish have been so kind over the years to share their taste for alcohol.
It gets worse. In Maine, alcohol cannot be served before 9:00 AM on Sundays. According to this release, Governor Paul LePage is signing emergency legislation to move that back to 6:00 AM when March 17th — St. Patrick’s Day — falls on a Sunday. We need emergency legislation so that people don’t have to wait until 9:00 AM to start drinking ? I have trouble believing it. My Aunt Mary used to tell me that this was not something that went on in Ireland, but apparently she was either mistaken or things have changed. This article from Science Daily explains why some people in Ireland may feel compelled to drink on Saint Patrick’s Day:
Matthew, from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, said: “Alcohol consumption, when placed in the context of Ireland becomes instantly romanticized, attributed to one’s underlying Celtic soul. Ireland is synonymous with alcohol; although Ireland boasts world heritage sites, titanic museums and the birth and death sites of numerous authors and poets, its most popular tourist attraction is the Guinness Storehouse.
“When Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip make a point of publicly enjoying a Guinness experience while visiting Ireland, it starts to become even more apparent that alcohol consumption is so completely intertwined with ‘Irishness.'”
The Irish-St. Patrick’s Day equals binge drinking phenomenon can seem funny if you don’t think too hard about it.
It is nice to see that somebody is doing something about it. The second annual Sober St. Patrick’s Day celebration will be held at Regis High School in New York City on March 16th from 3 to 6 PM. That corresponds with the end of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which in my high school days was the epicenter of St. Patrick’s Day binge drinking. The Parade is on the 16th this year, because the 17th being a Sunday and all there was some thought that people might be reminded that St. Patrick’s Day is supposed to have some religious significance.
Sober St. Patrick’s Day was the brainchild of William Reilly (I would say no relation, but I feel certain that if I turned my genealogically inclined brother loose on the project, he would show that we were somehow cousins.) This is from their press release
In one year, Sober St. Patrick’s Day® has established itself as a family friendly option for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Over the years, the holiday has become associated with binge drinking and public intoxication, which reinforces the stereotype of the “Drunken Irish.” This negative image alienates large segments of the community: families with young children, teens, senior citizens, members of the recovery community and many others who have stopped celebrating the day due to concerns about out-of-control behavior.
A friend of mine attended the inaugural event last year. He said:
The music was wonderful, the people were friendly. And it was nice to be able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day; something I’ve never done before. When I was drinking, it was Amateur Hour. Afterwards, it was annoying to be around so many drunk people.
Can’t Make It To New York?
This year’s event is already sold out, although there may still be tickets available for an overflow event. When I spoke to Mr. Reilly, he indicated that there is a lot of interest in sponsoring the event in other cities. I’d like to get one going in Worcester but what with the day job and the blog, I haven’t gotten very far. Nonetheless, there is another St. Patrick’s Day event that I am promoting. Right now it is a Facebook site, with just a couple of members. It is called San Patricios Against Hunger. The idea is that a large percentage of Americans of Irish descent are descendants of famine refugees like my great-grandfather Patrick Lyons, who 150 years ago today was camping somewhere in Virgina with the 22nd New Jersey. So the appropriate way to commemorate Irish heritage on St. Patrick’s Day is to make a donation to a hunger fighting charity. Just another one of my ideas that hasn’t gone viral – yet.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day and be sure to follow me on twitter @peterreillycpa.
Originally published on Forbes.com Mar 15th, 2013