Imagine America's first observance of St. Patrick's Day: Irish colonists decked out in their Sunday best, ladies in full-skirted dresses and elaborate hats, men in waistcoats and snug black breeches, all lined up tidily along a public thoroughfare to watch the country's first St. Paddy's parade, all ready to party like it's 1799. Nowadays, we're a lot more casual about honoring Ireland's patron saint, and a noontime beer at The Dubliner or MacDinton's hits the spot any time of the holiday.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2008.