SAINT PATRICK'S DAY - UNTIL RECENTLY, A MORE AMERICAN THAN IRISH CELEBRATION !

Ironically, for almost its entire history St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated with far greater fanfare in Boston or New York than it was in Galway or Dublin. Until recently Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade was largely made up of American participants—marching bands and drum majorettes.
In Ireland, banks, stores, and businesses were closed on March 17, but the day was primarily been celebrated as a religious feast day. Until the 1970s, pubs were in fact prohibited from opening on March 17.
In the United States, however, as anyone not color-blind knows, St. Patrick's Day is simply a celebration of Irishness. And as there are 30 million Americans of Irish ancestry, it's no wonder the celebration has been so successful. Compare that to the 4 million Irish living in Ireland.

Since 1995, Irish people have been catching up with the Americans. There are about 100 St Patrick's Day parades in the US whereas there are now about 30 in Ireland. The holiday in Ireland has become a "festival" which expands to a whole week. Last year, more than one million people took part in the festivities in Dublin.