Ryan and Holden – St. Patrick Illustration from ‘Ireland’s Crown of Thorns and Roses’ by Frank J. Ryan and P.F. Holden Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
“Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” the saying goes. But technically, about 32 million Americans — 9.7% of the total population — identified as being Irish in the 2020 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. A love of St. Patrick followed wherever the Irish immigrated throughout the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — all places where St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated.
In the Detroit area where I grew up attending St. Alphonsus in Dearborn, St. Patrick’s Day gave us a break from wearing our uniforms so that we could all wear green. Never mind that half the kids were Polish.
St. Patrick was my patron saint when the name Patricia (Patti) was given to me. My dad, who was 100% Irish from Irish immigrant parents, had a devotion to him that I inherited. On those dress days, I don’t think I was ever out-greened by anyone. One year, I even painted a pair of old shoes green and managed to find green stockings and green nail polish to match my green dress and hair ribbons.
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