St Patricks Day 2004

Aye Richard, but that’s basically reverse immigration from America. It never used to be the tradition in Ireland – they were always far too busy protecting their lucky charms to have green parades. :wink: Anyway, the green beer is strictly for the towerists – most traditional locals will be sticking to their pints of plain.

I remember it in London in the 70s and my family chuckling about in never being so big in Ireland - it’s definitely an emigrant thing - I suppose the Irish government established the festival in 1995 just for the craic. It looks like a laugh and no harm done - I don’t think anyone believes it’s some millennia old tradition. However…

"His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick’s Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.

The St. Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick’s Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston."

wilstar.com/holidays/patrick.htm

I think also since the decine in the influence of the Catholic Church ( less people lives are controlled by it), Patricks Day has needed a face lift and now is celebrated more as a holiday than a holy day.

When we were young we had to dress up in our scout’s uniforms, and parade up the town to teh church, where the mass was said in Irish

St. Patrick was the guy who got rid of those pagan religions and saved the souls of all of those poor druidic people., shor didn’t he save us as my mother would say.
Actually Yeats wrote an interesting poem about this, and how we should revert back to paganism. Of course Yeats was fond of the acid though

There was also for years a taboo issue about teh 1916 Rising. This as alot of people were taught, got the wheels rolling for independance. However we never celerated this. It was more a commemaration that a celerbration.
Easter 1916 should be the national holiday perhaps.

Patrick represented brinign Catholism to Ireland. Like Poland, people’s faith in the church was always strong, and it contributed indirectly to the resistance against the British and eventual independance

When I was young we had a neighbor, he was a protestant, and he never celebrated the day. His thought was what did Patrick do for him

In this repsect now I think they are trying to move away from the religion meaning of teh day and make it more a national day

Well, there are more ethnic Irish in America than in Ireland itself, same as their are more Jews in the U.S.A. than in Israel. People forget that Ireland is a very small country, relative to its cultural weight - only around 4 million, yes?

Hmm. Well, sorta. St. Patrick’s Day became a “major” American holiday as a way for the Irish to show off their numbers and gain political clout. I think it was in the early 1900’s with the rise of the labor-union movement, but it could have been post-Civil War. While the day may have existed in 1737, I doubt they did much more than wish each other a top o’ the mornin’ and throw up on each other, which doesn’t make it any different from any other day for the Irish. :stuck_out_tongue:

Erin go bleargh!

[quote=“Zippy”]Hey, I’m not Irish either man.

Options in Taipei seem to be Brass Monkey, Shannon, Tavern and Carnagees, any tips?[/quote]

Okay Zippy, Tomas to the rescue.

Brass Monkey will be filled with drunk Canadians, along with the few odd drunk Englishmen and Americanos. Most of them will come with their own girlfriends, or come alone and stare at the five or so available girls, who will get better looking as the night goes on.

The Shannon will have a live band, so-so food, overpriced beer, but in general, the best atmosphere. Number of available women tough to predict, but is generally better than Brass Monkey. You’ll see a broader mix of nationalities.

The Tavern will have good food, a wide variety of beers, lots of little TV screens, and likely a smaller crowd of regulars, most of them not Taiwanese.

Carnegies will be jam-packed with a mix of roughly 50% foreign and Taiwanese. If you are looking for a wild time, this is the place. There will be a good ratio of men to women, and many of the women will become more “available” as the night wears on, but the truly quality women will be few and far between. Lots of drunk foreigners will get on the bar to dance, in increasing numbers as the night goes on. Say hello to Bob, the tall British guy who manages the place, if you go. He’s a nice chap.

I can rarely tolerate Brass Monkey, but the Tavern is okay if you want to sit and chill with a good plate of food. If you want a laugh and electricity, got to Carnegies. If you want a place a bit more mellow but with live music, go to the Shannon (and wear your green underwear).

[quote=“magnolia”]It’s just an excuse for Paddies and their admirers everywhere to get blind drunk, surely? :wink:

[/quote]

In Staten Island NY it sure as hell is! Now who said that was stupid? best goddamn day of the year :slight_smile:

Thanks for the replies. I think I will have a couple of rock shandies at Shannon early on, then head over to Brass Monkey for a couple of hours, then wrap it all up by making a complete tit of myself in Carnagies

btw…if in doubt for a costume just nick a dpp election banner from anywhere…nice and green, you’re supporting the good guys and with any luck you can get in a fight with some pro-China wankers some time in the wee smalls…

We used to pinch anyone not wearing green on St Patrick’s day.

If you forgot to get drunk today, there’s always tomorrow:

March 18 Sheelah