Saint Patrick’s Day falls on March 17 each year. And is celebrated with parades and parties all over the world. The holiday is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other single-day national festival, due to Amercians enthusiasm to celebrate a holiday. In 1601, the first parade that was held in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day didn’t take place in Ireland but in America. And the first actual St. Patrick’s Day parade also took place in America during 1737, although the parade was only a stroll down main street in boston by a few Irish Protestors to honor the patron saint of their motherland. Today’s largest celebration is the annual parade in New York City, with more than two million spectators. 

The history of this holiday all comes from Irish heritage. On March 17, 1631, The Catholic Church recognized the day as a feast day commemorating Ireland’s beloved patron saint, Saint Patrick. Majority of the time March 17 would always fall during the Holy Christian Season of lent. This season would prohibit the consumption of alcohol, but on Saint Patrick’s Feast Day the ban would be lifted because of the feasting. 

Irish laws eventually decreased use of alcohol consumed on March  17th by mandating that all pubs remain closed on that day. This law was kept until it was repealed in the 1970s. The day remained to be seen as a feast day by the Church of Ireland, the Catholic Church,the Alblican Communion, the eastern, orthodox church, and the Lutheran Church. However, the Irish government realized that the interest rate of S Saint Patricks Day was growing by American tourists in the mid-1990s, so they launched a national campaign to convert the interest by Americans into tourist dollars.