Are we celebrating the Irish or drinking?

Across the country, Americans participate in many St. Patrick's day celebrations. Yet, what is being forgotten and trampled over is the true significance of the holiday, exploiting the day as an opportunity to drink heavily and party excessively and in turn, degrading its original Irish-Catholic significance. St. Patrick’s day, also known as Feast Day of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is an Irish holiday that is celebrated on the seventeenth of March. Ireland came up with worship services and festivals to celebrate and honor the day of his death.St. Paddy’s Day started as a religious celebration in the 17th century to commemorate the life of Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.  It was immigrants, mostly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick's Day into a largely secular holiday of Irish revelry and celebrations. The most comprehensive festivities, which included lavish parades, were held in cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants, who also retained political influence. Although blue was historically associated with St. Patrick’s Day, green is now generally associated with the day after the Irish Rebellion, when the clover became a symbol of nationalism. Both Irish and non-Irish are widely involved in wearing green— sporting a green clothing item or shamrock, the Irish national herb. While the Irish themselves ultimately embraced some of these traditions, they did so primarily for tourists ' benefit. In the 1800s, during the Great Hunger in Ireland, hundreds of thousands of Irish refugees fled from mass starvation and disease to America in hopes of a better life.In order to be able to come to America, many were sent by British Landlords. Many Americans felt these were not the best people to send, as many were poor, unskilled refugees and Catholic. When they arrived, the tensions between Protestants and Catholics were extremely high and acts of violence had already occured. These immigrants had to work dangerous jobs at low wages and faced a lot of discrimination.  In the United States, many Americans participate in large street parades all over the country, go to Irish themed parties, participate in bar crawls, and dress up wearing green clothing. The issue is not with Americans celebrating the day, rather that they do not know the history behind it. If they can take the time to celebrate, they should be able to take them out to research the history of St. Patrick’s day.                     This day is supposed to be a celebration of St. Patrick and Irish-American culture, however Americans all across the country see it as just another excuse to drink and party. Many are not even aware of the true meaning of this holiday and take advantage of this. This goes further than just cultural appropriation, these are the same people who oppressed the Irish for so many years. St. Patrick’s day is a very important and meaningful day to the Irish. Instead of blatantly disregarding the holiday’s real significance, people should educate themselves about what they are celebrating.