[US Patriot]

Family Heritage

My maiden name is Patrick and I'm hard pressed to let a single St. Patrick's Day go by without making a big deal of it, it is still to this day one of my favorite holidays.

For many years I claimed Irish as my own heritage. Surely, with a last name like Patrick I must be Irish. You can imagine my dismay when I discovered that I'm actually Scottish. I've traced our families heritage back to the Lamont clan in the 1400's, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

As a child I was convinced that somewhere along the line we were related to royalty. As luck would have it, I haven't found a royal bone in my body, turns out instead of being heir to a throne, I've decended from horse thieves and criminals.

My husband on the other hand is the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Lyman Hall a previous Governor of Georgia and signer of the Declaration of Independence, not to mention being related to William Shakespeare.

Celebrations

Fortunately, you don't have to be Irish to enjoy the festivities on St. Paddy's Day. Just don your green beanie or your "Kiss Me if your Irish" button and make your way to one of the many St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Who knows maybe the Luck O' The Irish will rub off on you or you'll find that pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow.

St. Paddy's Day is celebrated the world over, with parades and events taking place in Irish communities in cities around the world. Though many communities have jumped the gun and held their festivities a little early, perhaps to prolong the holiday, we've managed to locate 2007 St. Patrick's Day Parades all over the U.S. and even a few across the globe.

St. Patrick's Day Parades & Events

• St. Patrick's Day Parades 2008
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Dublin, Ireland
• Dublin, Ohio
• Montreal, Quebec
• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Tokyo, Japan

The first formal celebration of St. Patrick's Day took place not in Ireland, but in Boston in 1737. It consisted of a dinner attended by wealthy Protestant gentlemen and merchants who had recently come over from Ulster to settle in the colonies. By 1775, the Boston celebration included a march with 70 soldiers from the British Army who were at the time occupying Boston (an interesting note is that exactly 1 year later, in 1776, the British Army was marching again - but in double time - as they were retreating from the city. So in Boston, March 17 holds two causes to celebrate - St Patrick's Day and Evacuation day.)

The very first St. Patrick's Day Parade in the United States was held in New York City in 1766 by a band of homesick Irish ex-patriots. This was during a time when the "Wearin' O' The Green" was still a sign of Irish pride that was banned in Ireland.

A parade celebrating the freedom to speak the Irish language, sing Irish songs and play the bagpipes to Irish tunes was very meaningful to the immigrants who had fled their homes at such great cost leaving so much behind. Today modern celebrations in Ireland tend to avoid the green which has come to symbolize the flag that flew during the years that Ireland suffered under British rule!

American's have a lot in common with the Irish people, which might be perhaps one of the many reasons so many in this country celebrate this joyous holiday.

Labels: St. Patrick's Day