Haligonians celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
Posted Mar 17, 2015 08:57:57 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Today, people around the world are dressing up and wearing green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Historian Blair Beed said when St. Patrick arrived in Ireland in the fifth century, he began preaching the Christian gospels, and as a result became an image of the Emerald Isle itself.
Beed said the festivities to honour him have been happening in Halifax since the 1800s, but they began differently than the party for Ireland’s patron saint that we know today.
“It was on the spiritual side, the religious side,” he said. “But there was a St. Patrick’s band as far back as 1845, so there would have been banners, the band and the mass.”
Beed said dressing head-to-toe in green didn’t begin until the 1960s and 70s.
“And now there’s celebrations both in restaurants and bars, but there’s also the spiritual side of it, celebrating the patron saint of Ireland,” he said.
Two of the city’s more popular destinations to hoist a pint and dance a jig are the Old Triangle and Durty Nelly’s, both establishments opened for business today at 7 a.m.
Although it’s a day to let loose and have a good time, Halifax Regional Police constable Diane Woodworth reminded revellers to drink responsibly.
“Think ahead with respect to having a ride home, a designated driver, just to have a plan in place,” she said.
Woodworth added police expect large crowds and will have additional officers around the city.
