Do: Spell the holiday correctly: St. Paddy’s Day, not St. Patty’s Day
A frequent error made by people every year is the misspelling of the holiday’s nickname. Saint Pádraig, or as we know and love him, St. Patrick, would have had a diminutive nickname of Paddy and not Patty. The latter is used to refer to a burger or a woman’s name and historically speaking, wouldn’t have been used to refer to a man during that time period.
Do: Celebrate authentically at an Irish pub or restaurant
For those lucky enough to be 21 years or older on March 17, start your festivities as early as 7 a.m. various pubs in the Lansing area. Claddagh Irish Pub and Restaurant service manager McKenzie Morton described the 18-hour day as “really crazy and busy.”
“People are here at 7 a.m. getting started,” Morton said. “We get busier all day long; the whole restaurant’s packed.”
She said there is typically standing room only as the celebration progresses.
“We just keep moving until about 1 a.m.,” she said.
The pub will offer traditional Irish cuisine beginning with breakfast and plans to bring in Irish dancers, bagpipers, a DJ and four total bands, some of which will be playing authentic Irish tunes.
“It’s just carefree,” Morton said. “It’s a lot of fun, the whole day, and we keep it very traditional and that’s just all the happy people having fun.”
Do: Take this opportunity to channel your inner childhood desire to consume things that are unnaturally green.
Green bagels are being served in the dining halls and at Bruegger’s Bagels on Grand River Avenue. Another fad is to food color your beer green. (Thanks, Dr. Seuss.)
Do: Rep all of your green gear.
Historically, the tradition was to wear St. Patrick’s blue, according to a TIME Magazine article, which was a lighter shade and can still be seen in Irish culture today. The representative color evolved into green during the 1798 Irish Rebellion when the clover became a patriotic symbol throughout the country.
Don’t: Rely on the luck of the four-leaf clover.
According to a National Geographic article debunking St. Paddy’s misconceptions, the three-leaf clover was used primarily by the man behind the holiday to represent the holy trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Four-leaf clovers are a genetic mutation that does require some good fortune to come across, but it’s not a historically accurate symbol for the holiday.
Don’t: Pinch someone who isn’t wearing green.
Don’t be that guy.
Don’t: Bash other celebrators for not being Irish.
The man himself was not Irish; he was born in what is now England, Scotland or Wales. According to a History in the Headlines article, St. Patrick only made it to Ireland at the age of 16 because Irish enslavers attacked his home and held him captive in Ireland.
