Most Americans recognize St. Patrick’s Day as the day to wear green to avoid being pinched. Sacramento State students studying abroad in Ireland celebrate the same holiday quite differently.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated March 17. In remembrance of the patron saint of Ireland, one of Christianity’s most widely known figures, the Irish American community gathers together to “down the shamrock” and eat corned beef and cabbage.

“For our family, St. Patrick’s day is a chance to gather together and celebrate the importance our Irish culture,” said Shannon Kroeger, junior pre-nursing major. “Our family always eats the traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage and then we end the night with Bailey’s and cream coffee.”

While many people in America celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Sac State students have the opportunity to travel to Ireland every semester at the University of Dublin through the Global Education Department.

In Ireland, however, the holiday is a more subtle celebration, said senior communication studies major Rose Provine, who studied abroad in Ireland last year.

“People of Ireland definitely don’t celebrate like we do here,” Provine said. “An Irish friend of mine even said, “We don’t celebrate like ye, we don’t dye our rivers green.’ Even when I told my Irish friends about our tradition of pinching people who don’t wear green, they thought it was absolutely ridiculous and had never heard such a thing.”

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade celebration actually took place March 17, 1762, in New York City, in honor of the Catholic patron saint Patrick. Along with Irish music, the parade helped Irish soldiers of the British Army reconnect with their roots.

The St. Patrick’s parade is the world’s oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with more than 150,000 participants.

Today St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated differently around the world by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, Australia and, of course, Ireland.

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has traditionally been considered a Catholic religious holiday that consists of attending Mass in the morning, followed by family gatherings for a feast.

Along with feasts, Provine said there is a huge parade in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. The town’s center is packed, mostly with tourists traveling to Dublin for the occasion.

“When my friends and I tried to go into town, the streets were so packed we had to get off the bus and walk into town it was so crowded,” Provine said. “Aside from my Irish friends who decided to come out for the parade with me, the majority of the people celebrating were not Irish. Most of the Irish people do not celebrate like the tourists do, except for going to a pub for a pint of two … or eight, which is no different from any other day.”

In America, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated for one day. However in Ireland, the people take a week off to celebrate the festivities that take place, said alumna Clara Griffith, who also studied abroad in Ireland last spring.

“When I studied in Ireland, all the schools had a week off during the week St. Patrick’s Day,” Griffith said. “On St. Patrick’s Day, we left our house at 9 a.m. to begin our celebration and did not get home until 2 a.m. It was literally an all-day event.”

Studying abroad offers students to experience life outside of America and to learn about diverse cultures and how holidays are celebrated differently, such as St. Patrick’s.

“I am half Irish and I have always wanted to go to Ireland growing up,” Griffith said. “Studying in Ireland was a trip of a lifetime; I was able to take it all in and embrace the traditional Irish culture to the fullest.”

While studying abroad was always a desire for her, Provine said Ireland was on the top of the list. She said she was always fascinated with the culture and people and wanted to experience it for herself.

“I had heard that studying in Dublin was a great experience, mostly because of the people and pubs,” Griffith said. “They were right.”

Yvette Villasenor can be reached at [email protected]