Foreign Perspectives

In years gone by, the combination of those two facts produced a peculiar result in Northern Ireland. Although considered the patron saint of the whole island of Ireland ie of both the Republic of Ireland and of Northern Ireland, in NI at one time he was “taken over” by those that would consider themselves Irish (effectively the Catholic population) and thus the celebrations of his day were largely in “Irish” parts of NI. I get the impression that things are changing and the celebrations are less exclusively Irish these days but I suspect it’ll be several years before St Patrick’s day becomes a completely non-nationalistic event in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the most appropriate place to celebrate St Patrick’s Day is in the Northern Ireland town of Downpatrick, where you can find the grave of St Patrick himself in the grounds of the cathedral which hosts a special service on his day. You’ll also find the St Patrick’s exhibition centre in the town and, of course, an annual parade as you can see.