Growing up in a very Irish household, St. Patrick’s Day has always been a big deal in my family. We would always travel to Boston for a traditional boiled dinner and then a party with family friends. In more recent years, my parents have had an open house and my mom would cook pretty much any kind of Irish food you could possibly think of while friends of ours came and went throughout the day. St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite day of the year, even better than Christmas and my birthday, and here’s why.

The Irish Food

One memorable St. Patrick’s Day, my mom made six corned beefs- all of which were eaten by the next day. Irish food is one of my favorite kinds of food, which makes St. Patrick’s day that much better. Whether it’s in the form of a boiled dinner, hash, or anything else, corned beef and potatoes are St. Patrick’s Day essentials. Add to that cabbage, soda bread, and Guinness stew, and you have a hearty, delicious meals. Everyone in my family also always has Lucky Charms for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day, and somehow the milk would always magically turn green.

The Entertainment

Irish music is varied from ballads to jigs, and I love all of it. I’m pretty sure it’s actually physically impossible not to smile while listening to an Irish jig. Live Irish bands are even more fun, since they tend to engage with the crowd and really get everyone into the holiday spirit. The movie The Quiet Man is another St. Patrick’s Day special, but once you’ve seen it enough times, like I have, you can just put it on in another room on repeat and just tune in to your favorite parts.

Making the Leprechaun Trap

Apparently, this isn’t something that everyone does, which in my opinion means a lot of people are really missing out. As a child, making the leprechaun trap every March 16^th was one of my favorite parts. You start with a carboard box, a can (or bottle) of Guinness, and some Lucky Charms, and decorate it to your specifications, then set it up so that when the leprechaun goes in to get the Guinness, he’ll get trapped. We typically decorated with a lot of rainbows, pots of gold, and shamrocks. Without fail, every March 17^th the Guinness would be empty and the can would be crushed, but there was no leprechaun in our trap. Fortunately, he usually would leave a lot of his chocolate gold behind. Seeing the “mischief” that the leprechaun got up to (green footprints, green toilet water, and green pretty much anything) was always a fun time too.

The Spirit

Maybe it’s just because my family is so Irish and has always celebrated in such a fun way, but just knowing that St. Patrick’s Day is getting close makes the whole month of March fun. I love seeing everyone in their green clothing, seeing adults acting silly and their kids having the time of their lives with making the trap, discovering all of the leprechaun’s tricks, and having fun with their temporary tattoos and themed accessories. St. Patrick’s Day is technically a religious holiday, celebrating how St. Patrick brought Catholicism to Ireland and drove all of the snakes out. While we did have a slight religious aspect to our celebration- my family went to St. Patrick’s Church after all- we celebrated the holiday with people of all religious and cultural backgrounds. To me, St. Patrick’s Day was a way to bring people together and just have fun, which is why it’s so great to me.