How St Patrick's Day is celebrated

St Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is celebrated every year on 17 March, the date of his death in the fifth century. Millions of people around the world will wear green and many more will enjoy an Irish stout or whiskey. It's been a public holiday in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland since 1903, and is held this year on Monday 18 March, as the 17th falls on a Sunday.

We take a look at some of the ways St Patrick is celebrated, and some of the traditions linked to the day.

A pint of the black stuff

The Irish stout Guinness has become synonymous with St Patrick's Day. An "estimated 14 million pints" of "the black stuff", originally created in Dublin in 1759 by Arthur Guinness, were drunk in the UK on 17 March 2022, said The Independent.

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This year you can bag a bargain pint at Wetherspoons, which will be offering pints of Guinness (and other beers) for £2.99, "meaning you could save up to 46p", said The Sun. 

Alternatively, with the no/low-alcohol drinks trend growing, you can also toast the saint with alcohol-free Guinness, launched in 2021. Diageo, which owns Guinness, has invested €25 million in a new Dublin production plant "to increase production of Guinness 0.0 by 300%", said industry publication The Morning Advertiser.

To experience an authentic St Patrick's Day as it was celebrated hundreds of years ago, you may need to put down that pint of Guinness. Irish law between 1903 and 1970 designated St Patrick's Day a religious holiday, which meant pubs closed for the day, Catholic Online reported. "The law was overturned in 1970, when St Patrick's was reclassified as a national holiday – allowing the taps to flow freely once again. "

Wearing – and 'drowning' – the shamrock

The shamrock is a type of clover with a cluster of three leaves – although which species is open to debate. Ireland's long-standing affiliation with the shamrock is said to have originated from the teachings of St Patrick, who used its three leaves as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Irish people will often wear a bunch of shamrocks on St Patrick's Day, and in the UK representatives of the royal family present "symbolic shamrocks to the Irish Guards as part of a royal custom that dates back to 1901", said Town & Country magazine.

"Drowning the shamrock" is a custom at the end of St Patrick's Day. The shamrock is dunked into a last glass of whiskey, then tossed over the left shoulder for luck.

'Eirinn go Brach'

Take part in any parade and you're bound to hear this much-loved Gaelic expression. Roughly translated, it means "Ireland forever". And if you're raising a glass, you can say "Sláinte!" (pronounced "slawn-che"), which is Gaelic for "health".

St Patrick's Day parades

Holding parades on St Patrick's Day is a tradition that began outside Ireland as Irish people far from home "gathered to celebrate their culture", said Tourism Ireland. North America was the first country to hold parades, and Boston is usually credited as being "the city that kicked it all off" in 1737.

There are now parades worldwide, including Dublin, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, London, Boston, New York and Chicago, where, famously, the river is dyed green.

This year, a "record" 162 million people in the US are "planning to celebrate" in some way, said the National Retail Federation.

The other Emerald Isle

St Patrick's Day may be celebrated around the world, but there's only one country outside Ireland where it's been declared a public holiday. The Caribbean island of Montserrat is known as the "Emerald Isle" in memory of the Irish Catholic community that took refuge there in the 17th century. Its St Patrick's Day Festival is "one of Montserrat's most popular annual events", said Irish Central.

Wearing green

The colour green has become associated with Ireland, and wearing green is supposed to make you invisible to leprechauns, "which like to pinch anyone they can see", said National Geographic Kids. However, said History, "the earliest depictions of St Patrick show him clothed in blue garments".

The name Patrick is losing appeal

There are fewer newborn namesakes of the saint in Ireland today. The name Patrick was the second most popular name for newborn boys in 1965, but only just scraped into the top 20 in 2023, according to Ireland's Central Statistics Office. However, Paddy, the short form of Patrick, is a new entrant in the top 100.