The Wearing of the Green: A History of St. Patrick's Day

346 Pages·2001·3.21 MB·English

by  Dr. Mike Cronin

THE WEARING OF THE GREEN

THE WEARING OF THE GREEN
A history of St Patrick’s Day
Mike Cronin and Daryl Adair

London and New York
First published 2002 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York,
NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”
© 2002 Mike Cronin and Daryl Adair
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Cronin, Mike. The wearing of the green : a
history of St. Patrick’s Day / Mike Cronin and Daryl Adair. p. cm. Includes bibliographical
references and index. 1. Saint Patrick’s Day—History. I. Adair, Daryl. II. Title. GT4995.P3 C76
2002 394.262–dc21 2001048757
ISBN 0-203-00714-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-415-18004-X (Print Edition)
In memory of my grandfather, Geoffrey Davies, and for my nephew and niece,
James and Nicola Cronin (MC) For my family, Cheryl and Kane Adair (DA)
Beannacht Dé agus Naomh Padraig oraibh go léir (The blessing of God and St Patrick on
you all)
CONTENTS

List of illustrations vii
Foreword ix
Acknowledgements xi
‘The Wearing of the Green’ by Dion Boucicault xiii
Introduction xv

1 The evolution of St Patrick’s Day 1
2 Famine and exodus 24
3 Visualizing Ireland: nationalism and diaspora 44
4 Contesting Ireland: republicanism and militarism 88
5 Proclaiming Ireland: independence and empire 113
6 Modern times, troubled times 169
7 Reinventing St Patrick’s Day 210
Conclusion 224

Notes 230
Selected bibliography 273
Index 289
ILLUSTRATIONS
Between pp. 139 and 151

1 St Patrick’s Ball, Dublin Castle, March 1848. Illustration from the

London Illustrated News

2 50,000 men in line in the New York St Patrick’s Day Parade, 1872.

Illustration from the Irish World

3 New York St Patrick’s Day Parade, 1873. The grand procession
marching past the City Hall, up Broadway. Illustration from the Irish
World

4 St Patrick’s Day Parade, Dublin, 1905

5 St Patrick’s Day greetings card, 1909

6 St Patrick’s Day parade, Melbourne, 1937

7 Dublin St Patrick’s Day Parade, O’Connell Street, 1958

8 Limerick St Patrick’s Day Parade, 1962

9 St Patrick in Chicago, St Patrick’s Day Parade, 1998

10 Float with an inflatable sun in the St Patrick’s Festival Parade,

Dublin 1999

11 Participants in fancy dress parading in the St Patrick’s Festival,

Dublin 1999
12 Float with an enormous green insect in the St Patrick’s Festival

Parade, Dublin 1999

13 Irish Council of County Associations Parade, London, 2000

14 New York St Patrick’s Day Parade, 2000
FOREWORD
Just what is it about a parade, whether martial, triumphal or carnival that delights the
senses and never fails to draw a crowd? Reading the fascinating story of the evolution of
St Patrick’s Day Parades as told by Cronin and Adair, I couldn’t help but wonder if the
words ‘pride’ and ‘parade’ were not somehow derived from each other. In fact, it seems
that the only common denominator between the extremely diverse parades of modern
times is the pride they exude, be that pride in a glorious past as most commonly
manifested in diaspora communities such as in North America, or pride in a glorious
future as witnessed in recent years on the streets of Dublin.
It seems quite fitting that the celebration of St Patrick’s Day has finally come full
circle, arriving ‘back home’ just in time to conclude this first-ever study of 17 March and
its significance. When St Patrick’s Festival was established as Ireland’s National Festival,
it faced the challenge of bringing the celebration of St Patrick’s Day back home, at a time
when Irish society had undergone such rapid and radical change, and when the
celebration of our national holiday could easily have lost its relevance. This challenge
was met by placing the emphasis on making St Patrick’s Day an invitation to celebrate
Irishness and on prioritizing the entertainment value of the event above all else – the
imagery and symbolism were driven by celebratory themes and artistic values rather than
by tradition or custom.
We have come a long way, and the picture-postcard image of Ireland has changed
beyond all recognition. The images of Ireland that are beamed across the world on St
Patrick’s weekend reflect the vibrant, confident and creative identity of contemporary
Ireland. The festival aims to be a participatory, community event, accessible to all, and to
embrace both the age-old traditions of St Patrick’s Day and the new ways in which we
celebrate it with pride and diversity. The transition of St Patrick’s Day celebrations from
their early religious origins, through to the secularized festivals of the twenty-first
century is a key component of the history presented in this book.
The full extent to which St Patrick’s Festival reflects the spirit of the Irish nation is
evidenced by the 1.3 million people who attend and the 970,000 domestic TV viewers.
The success of the concerted national effort to prevent a foot and mouth epidemic (which
saw the postponement of the 2001 Festival) yielded a surge of national pride which
translated into an atmosphere of joyous celebration on the streets of Dublin when the
Festival finally happened in May. That to me is what St Patrick’s Day is all about – truly
having something to celebrate and be proud of.
Cronin and Adair help us to see that St Patrick’s Day celebrations have been, and
always will be, a reflection of their time. By tracking the evolution of St Patrick’s Day
celebrations they have actually succeeded in illustrating the development of the concepts
of Irish identity at home and abroad. By this process, the concept of Irishness has moved
from simplistic, romantic, singular ideals to the more complicated amalgam of cultural,
economic, demographic and pragmatic factors. Just as St Patrick’s Day has become all
things to all people, so too has the notion of ‘Irishness’.