"st patricks day food" news and stories

Americans today tend to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with platefuls of Irish fare and pints of Irish stout, but the pseudo-Gaelic menu's actually a relatively recent addition to a holiday long marked by dyeing food green.

St. Patrick's been on the Irish calendar for more than 1,000 years, honoring the fifth century Brit who led the first full-scale Christian mission to the Emerald Isle. A resolutely religious occasion, the only treat associated with the celebration in Old Ireland was bacon and cabbage, since Lenten prohibitions on meat were waived for the holiday. Food and drink were such minor considerations that Irish law shuttered bars on St. Patty's Day through the 1970s.

The holiday acquired its jollity in the U.S., where Irish immigrants in 1762 began expressing their patriotism with raucous parades and parties. While a bigoted populace initially shunned the festivities, the sheer number of Americans with Irish roots spurred a 20th century surge in Irish-American political power and ancestral pride. By the 1930s, Americans of all backgrounds were joining in the Mar. 17 fun, cheering on parade participants and cooking holiday meals.