While many students in Ireland will gather for mass in celebration of their country's Patron Saint Patricius today, halfway across the globe most UW-Madison students will be found nowhere near a church service, but instead flocking to campus bars in celebration of their own \holy day"" filled with green beer and corned beef.
For most Americans, St. Patrick's Day resembles something closer to a small-scale Halloween celebration rather than a day of historic importance or religious observance.
""Beer, drinking, that's about it... It's a huge Hallmark thing-an excuse to get drunk and wear green,"" UW-Madison freshman Claire Doro said.
UW-Madison junior Erik Kelzenberg agreed.
""[St. Patrick's Day] had something to do with St. Patrick leading the snakes out of Ireland ... I don't know, but I plan on drinking, possibly heavily.""
Although this may indicate accurately the essence of the holiday on the UW-Madison campus and most other places in America, the holiday was originally about much more than the color green, beer, and the green beer which bars make especially for the occasion. The raging bar scene is not necessarily indicative of the holiday for the native Irish.
""In Ireland, it's a day to go to church, it's considered holy. It's a feast day of an important saint, celebrating the conversion of the island to Christianity,"" said Thomas Archdeacon, professor of history at UW-Madison.
As the story goes, Saint Patrick was born in Scotland, where he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to an Irish priest-a situation that inspired him to enter a monastery after his escape from slavery. Upon being ordained a priest, he returned to Ireland as a missionary, where he and his followers worked to convert Irish people to Christianity until he died on March 17, 464. In Ireland, this day is a celebration of spiritual renewal and missionaries worldwide.
These observances were brought to America when Irish immigrants began appearing in the 18th century.
""The holiday as we know it was celebrated by the Irish immigrants and their descendants, [as a way of] staking out their place, showing patriotism and affection for the old country,"" Archdeacon said.
""We still have St. Patrick's Day parties every year at my house,"" UW-Madison freshman Mary Jane Adkins, who is 100 percent Irish, said. ""We decorate with shamrocks, order a corned beef, make green Jell-O.""
Although some Irish-Americans choose a more traditional celebration of the holiday, American celebrations on the whole have been largely modified from their Irish beginnings.
""It has become extraordinarily popularized and commercialized in the U.S.,"" Archdeacon said, ""and some people find it degrading, that it plays on stereotypes of Irish drunkenness.""
Here, the day is permeated by parades, festivals and Irish pubs. The biggest American tribute to the holiday happens in New York with an annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Now considered one of the city's greatest traditions, it was started in 1776 by Irishmen fighting in the Revolutionary War. Today the parade remains true to its roots, consisting solely of marching without the interference of any cars or floats.
However, especially on college campuses, the celebrations lack much of the historical value apparent in the parade and are largely characterized by alcohol.
""A golden keg would probably be more fitting for our campus,"" UW-Madison sophomore Jake Skilling said in reference to the St. Patrick's Day legend of a leprechaun with a pot of gold.
Others agreed with Skilling.
""There's always been some kind of association with drinking,"" Archdeacon said, ""but probably from the 1960s forward was the general idea of making St. Patrick's Day into a more non-denominational, non-ethnic, collegiate celebration ... about the same time as spring break got transformed into a collective orgy. It has more to do with changes in the general culture.""
True to this observation, Madison bars see some their big business on St. Patrick's Day.
""It's basically a zoo all day. There's lines out the door and around the corner when we open at 11, and they don't stop,"" said Christine Kampion, owner of Irish Waters Pub in Madison, 702 N. Whitney Way.
However, Kampion emphasized the growth of the holiday is not all negative.
""Our crowds are really diverse,"" she said. ""We get the traditional Irish families that come and gather for the holiday, but really, everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. I don't even know how to describe it ... the Irish are such a big, happy, welcoming family of people, and everybody wants to have something like that, and on St. Patrick's Day everybody does.\
