February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Thanks be to Ireland’s apostle; no more is this the case. In 1995 the Irish government decided to reclaim St. Patrick’s Day. Rebranding proceedings as a “festival” rather than a single “day,” launching a showcase for Ireland abroad, 2005 marks the 10th anniversary of a landmark turnabout.
“St. Patrick’s Festival is a celebration of Ireland and it’s people,” said CEO Donal Shiels. It reflects the nation’s confidence whilse remaining inclusive enough for everyone to participate. Paddy’s Day is global, but, Shiels said, “Dublin is the capital and for me it’s the pulse and the heartbeat of the whole celebration.”
Opportunity was there for the taking. In the U.S. alone, the Census Bureau lists 34.3 million citizens of Irish descent. Irish communities in all corners lap up the good will. Guinness is drunk, heritage is toasted, “St. Patrick’s Day” entered into internet search engines. The business window of opportunity is massive.
“People throughout the world seek to reinforce their sense of Irishness and renew their affinity with Ireland,” said Myriam Hooper, Operations Manager at Irishabroad.com. “There’ll be a story in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle; even on Google there’ll be a shamrock or a leprechaun for the day.”
Irish eyeballs are smiling, and Irishabroad.com capitalizes by rolling out promotions, parade and festival information, postcards, gadgets and games. Over the St. Patrick’s Day period its page impressions double to 5 million a month. URLs like Ireland.com do similar business. Irish pubs welcome drinkers with open arms. Mania is general wherever green is worn.
Nevertheless, confusion remains as to who exactly is being feted. Born around 400 AD, Maewyn Succat was kidnapped from Roman Britain in his teens and held captive in Ireland for six years. Working as a shepherd, he turned in his loneliness to God, escaped and studied to enter the priesthood. As a bishop, Ireland’s patron saint was rechristened Patricius, or Patrick.
His folklore is vibrant. Patrick is said to have rid Ireland of snakes, though none existed (the metaphor was later used to represent paganism). Nor did he introduce Christianity to the island. Other Catholic bishops came to Ireland before Patrick, and he was dispatched both to minister to extant Christians and convert the pagan majority.
“Only a very tough man could have hoped to survive those people,” as one biographer, Thomas Cahill, has written. “I don’t mean to say he wasn’t a saint — he was a great saint — but he was a very rough, vigorous man.”
He was also surprisingly modern. Patrick condemned slavery. He lauded the strength and courage of women. He incorporated native Irish beliefs into his teachings. Later, his status as immigrant resonated with many Irish forced to leave their homeland, so much so that his feast day as we now know it began life as an American holiday, celebrated as far back as 1762 in New York.
Indeed, important as the festival was to Catholics, Irish parades largely remained halfhearted logjams until 1995. Ten years later, all has changed. St. Patrick’s Festival is spectacular. Skyfest is the largest annual fireworks display in Europe. Music and Arts programs enliven the capital. A revamped parade is the flagship event, pouring Canadian Mounties, bouncing jellyfish, Brazilian samba dancers and other allsorts onto a thronged O’Connell Street.
“Effectively once one year shuts down you’re straight into it again,” Donal Shiels said, highlighting the extent to which national and international expectations have risen over a decade. This year’s theme of “Mischief, Mayhem and Madness” is expected to attract 4,000 participants and more than 250,000 spectators.
The festival brings people to Dublin, said Dublin Tourism CEO Frank Magee, who also sits on the festival board of directors. “The amount of overseas media coverage we get for the event, the color it puts on the streets, the activities and the carnival atmosphere, all of that is a positive. . . . From a cultural and artistic viewpoint it’s mighty.”
In 2003, proceedings were worth