St. Patrick’s Day. The day every year when everyone’s inner Irish blood, whether it be 0.5% or 90%, comes out in full strength, sporting bright green colors and hopping up and down in a display of “Irish dance”. 

 

This year, however, expectations for festive Irish celebrations differed around the world as various degrees of lockdown grip each country. College students in Ireland, for example, had to invent new ways to celebrate this year.  

 

Jodie, a college student from Galway, Ireland, remarked, “How I celebrated this year wasn’t very exciting but still enjoyable, I just hung out with friends via zoom call...it was kinda jarring as the only big tell that it was Saint Patrick's Day at all was because a few people were wearing green. I miss the celebrations.” 

 

Usually, St. Patrick’s Day is marked with huge parades and festivals across the country. However, Ireland has been in Level Five of lockdown (the most restrictive stage) since Christmas Eve (December 2020), and is set to begin to ease restrictions next week (April 5).  

 

In Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), however, some were able to celebrate the Irish holiday, with the requirement of having their COVID vaccination beforehand. 

 

Ella, a teen from Belfast, Northern Ireland, explained, “I was able to celebrate in Mourne Grange [name of community in Northern Ireland] as everyone is vaccinated in Mourne Grange for people with additional needs and the workers and their families.”  

 

Apart from this, however, Ella continued, “Everything else is still closed like pubs and restaurants, cafes, clubs, etc. But lots of people met up with each other in parks and had drinks and celebrated outside. In Belfast park there were hundreds of young people outside celebrating”. 

 

In London, it seemed, by contrast, that St. Patrick’s Day slipped by unnoticed. Niamh works at a school in the heart of the city. She remarked, “It was not [celebrated]. There was nothing. No parade. There’s no pubs open still, so yeah nothing. No one [wore green]. I was at school and I didn’t. I forgot cause there was no hype about it cause no one could do anything for it.” 

 

Perhaps surprisingly, or ironically, the heights of celebration took place in Florida, USA, where COVID restrictions have been at ease for months.  

 

In Ave Maria, FL, festivities were not hindered as the local favorite, Irish band “The Immokalee Micks”, played in the town and the University (Ave Maria University). Crowds came in bulk to hear them play and see occasional displays of Irish dance. 

 

Katie Hayner, sophomore student at Ave Maria University, is an integral part of this band, led by her older brother, Jimmy. She commented saying, “It was so nice to be able to play at the pub because it was cancelled last year because of COVID...It’s great to have a group of people as talented as the rest of the band is. I think people genuinely enjoy watching and singing along to Irish music because it’s timeless and a lot of people know a lot more songs than they think they do! We’re very grateful for all of the support we receive from the school and the student body.”

 

 

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Michael Lis-Planells, junior at Ave, expected more from the celebrations at the University. He commented, “We came to the [St. Patrick’s Day] party and had green beer. I came there expecting it to be bustlin’. Maybe we came too early. People were just standing there and just talking. I was kinda disappointed. And then I found out green beer just tastes like normal beer. So, I threw away the green beer. And then I said, ‘You know what could save tonight? The food.’ So, I busted into the café. The French fries tasted like they sat there for days; the corn beef was...a’ight. The cookies were good, cause they were big. Yeah, I had like four of those. So, the person I was with and me were like ‘frick, let’s get out of here’”. 

 

When asked about his thoughts on the music at the University's event, Michael remarked, “I thought the music was good, but it shouldn’t have been shoved in the corner. They should have been in the center of attention, in my opinion.” 

 

He says this as the band was in the “corner” of the outdoor party, by the café doors, not really in the center of where everyone was standing and talking. 

 

Whether students loved the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, or expected better, there was at least, some celebrations in Florida for the beloved Irish holiday, contrary to Ireland and much of the UK. 

 

These separate experiences of once beloved holidays raise questions for how they will be celebrated in the future, when the world is free of COVID. Will celebrations burst forth, into bigger festivities than we have ever seen before? Or will they dwindle, as people get used to being remote, separated from all forms of celebration? 

 

All we can say for sure is that, in terms of culture, Irish and college students will continue to have differing opinions on what is essential for best celebrating the Irish holiday, whether the celebrations are grand or small, online or in-person. Even in terms of Ireland’s beloved drink, Michael expected better from that too, differing from the majority of Irish students.  

 

His overall consensus on the holiday can be wrapped up in his words on the drink, saying, "I for sure went to go buy Guinness...on principle. It was pretty bad.”