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Everyone wants to be Irish on St. Paddy's Day
Though the day is famous for a meal of corned beef and cabbage followed by swigs of green beer, St. Patrick's Day has more meaning than a pinch for those who forget to dress in green.
The man known as Saint Patrick was actually named Succat (meaning "war-like") when he was born an estimated 1,500 years ago. The son of a prosperous landowner, he was renamed Patricius, meaning "noble," when he was baptized. At the age of 16, Patricius was forced into slavery. Six years later he escaped and returned to Ireland, where he became a missionary, preaching and establishing churches. It's rumored that St. Patrick banished snakes from Ireland by beating a drum.
In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a holiday much like Thanksgiving or Fourth of July. Irish native Aidan Mackey, co-owner of Katie Blooms in Campbell, says every city in Ireland holds parades and parties in honor of the day their saint died, March 17.
Both Katie Blooms establishments, in Campbell and in downtown San Jose, will serve up special Irish recipes of corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips and shepherd's pie along with pints of Guinness beer to wash it down. Bartenders dressed in Renaissance costumes and musicians with bagpipes will welcome celebrants of the famous Irish holiday.
Sam Summerscales, co-owner of The King's Head Pub in downtown Campbell, says customers will be entertained throughout the day by traditional Celtic music and Celtic rock. Summerscales believes the day is popular because it gives people a way to remember their roots and, also, make a party out of it. "Everybody wants to be Irish on that day," he says.
--Chantal Lamers
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
