Many people today feel the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is mostly associated with corned beef, cabbage and lots of beer. Some would add that parades including step dancing and music filled with the blare of bagpipes are integral to the festival as well. These characteristics are true, but the celebration is actually a rememberance of the sad and painful history of the Irish. One such event was “The Irish Potato Famine”, in which …showed first 75 words of 356 total…

…showed last 75 words of 356 total…huge cemetery stretching from Ireland to America. This is just one example of remembering why we should celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as an Irish American. Along the way, the St. Patrick's Day parade, once a defiant show of strength against Protestant power, gradually declined into a pointless annual march of aging suburbanites and drunken collegians staggering along in funny hats. Bibliography Leo, John. “Of Famine and Green Beer.” U.S. News & World Report 24 Mar. 1997: 16