SeeCalifornia.com

St. Patrick’s Day is coming on Sunday, March 17, 2013 and that means you gotta wear the green. From California’s gold country Irish town of Murphys where they hold the annual parade to San Francisco where they have lots of Irish pubs to the Southern California beach communities where they take to the streets with a big parade in Hermosa, check out the bar scene in Huntington, and head for Gaslamp in San Diego for shamROCK party with rock bands, the event in California has less to do with Irish tradition than West Coast adaption.  What is St. Patrick’s Day, really?

ST. PATRICK’S DAY: It is the Irish holiday with religious (Catholic) origins honoring Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the commonly recognized patron saint of Ireland. It is often called the Feast of St. Patrick.

ST. PATRICK: Not born in Ireland, St. Patrick brought Christianity to the country and is known for driving snakes from the country where few exist and never did.

SHAMROCK: Used for religious symbolism to explain the holy trinity with a 3-leaved shamrock representing the Father, Son & Holy Ghost.

WEARING GREEN: Originally the color for St. Patrick was Blue! Green was adopted around the 17th century, tied to the shamrock theme.

DRINKING BOOZE:  Originates from Christian Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol lifted for the day. 13 million pints of Guinness are consumed internationally on St. Patrick’s Day, with 30% being in the U.S. In Ireland around 48% of liquor consumed is beer. While Guinness is one of Ireland’s favorite drinks, whiskey originated in Ireland. To qualify as Irish whiskey, the product must be distilled and aged in the island of Ireland, be distilled to an alcohol by volume level of less than 94.8% from a yeast-fermented mash of cereal grains in such a way that the distillate has an aroma and flavor derived from the materials used, and must be aged for at least three years in wooden casks. Bushmills and Jameson are two of the best known Irish whiskeys.

CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE:  Associated with Saint Patrick’s Day, corned beef is not considered an Irish national dish, and the connection with Saint Patrick’s Day originates as part of Irish-American culture. Go ahead and eat pizza or sushi if you like!

CALIFORNIA ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Parades are held in Dublin, Ventura, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Murphys, Healdsburg, Hermosa Beach.