For beer loving, pretend (and real) Irish, green wearing, shamrock shake loving, Jamison drinking people all over the globe, March 17th is better than Christmas. This magical day is St. Patrick’s Day and it is celebrated on Thursday, but most communities in the U.S. are holding parades for this (sadly unofficial) holiday the Saturday before (the 12th) or the Saturday after (the 19th).
I told the story of St. Patrick, the famous man remembered on this day, back in a 2009 March article. Today, I want to talk about the history of St. Patrick’s Day in the United States.
Way back before we were even considered a country, the Irish Society of Boston organized the first ever St. Patrick’s Day on March 18th, 1737. There are two funny things about this bit of trivia. One is that the parade took place on the 18th, not the 17th and that the first parade to celebrate St. Patrick in Ireland didn’t even happen until 1931. That’s what I call a trend setter.
New York followed suit with its first parade on March 17th, 1762. The first few parades were held because Irish Immigrants wanted to march to show that they were unhappy with their social status and their lack of work options.
The city I live in held its parade this past Saturday and the Irish spirit was in full force. But, since the actual St. Patrick’s Day isn’t until thirsty Thursday, I still feel the luck of the Irish. But what should I imbibe on the big day? Is it cliché to enjoy a few pints of Guinness? Heck no! How about some Jamison? Yes please.
But what else is there to out there that is equally Irish? I mentioned Beamish and Murphy’s Stout last month. Those are two Irish stouts that are equally as authentic as Guinness and just as tasty. You can also go in the Irish Red category and go with Killian’s Irish Red or Smithwick’s. Harpoon makes a delicious Celtic Ale for the holiday and fellow Bostonians at the Boston Beer Company make Samuel Adams Irish Red ale. Also, many craft breweries make Irish themed beers for the holiday.
If beer isn’t your thing, try some of these great cocktail recipes:
Irish Apple Martini (Not to be confused with normal apple Martini)
1.5 ounces of premium vodka
1 ounce of green apple pucker
Ice and a cocktail shaker
Shake and serve in a martini glass
Darby O’Gill
1 ounce of peach schnapps
1 ounce of coconut rum
1 ounce of green apple pucker
Sweet and sour mix to finish
Ice and a cocktail mixer
Shake and serve in a cocktail glass
Conan O’Brien
1 ounce of dry vermouth
1 ounce of premium gin
1 dash of Crème De Menthe
Ice and a cocktail shaker
Shake and serve in a cocktail glass
30 year old freelance writer and The Father Life‘s resident beer columnist and sports editor. He also writes about fine beverages for drinkingmadeeasy.com and Chilled Magazine. On top of that, he writes about college and professional lacrosse for insidelacrosse.com. He’s also written for Genesee Valley Parenting Magazine, the Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper and ESPN.com. “Osburn on Tap” appears monthly in THE FATHER LIFE. For questions, comments, or if you have a story idea for Chris, throw him an email cosburn@thefatherlife.com. Also, follow him on twitter http://www.twitter.com/chrisosburn