by Neil Nicol

Created on: March 17, 2009

St Patrick's Day in Great Britain is largely only celebrated in those parts of the country where there are large pockets of Irish or Irish descended people among the community. There are many such areas around Great Britain but probably chiefly in London, Liverpool and Glasgow.

The Irish people or Irish descended people who live in Great Britain are largely fiercely proud of their Irish roots, in a similar sense to those Irish descended people who live in the United States, Australia or anywhere else in the world where same are to be found. St Patrick's Day is a big thing for them and although it is of course not a holiday in Great Britain as it is in Ireland itself, they do go out of their way to celebrate in any and every way in which they can.

It varies from year to year but when St Patrick's Day coincides with Great Britain's world famous steeplechase horse racing festival, The Cheltenham Festival, this probably becomes the biggest St Patrick's Day celebration outside Ireland. The Cheltenham Festival is held in the second complete week of March every year so the calendar itself determines whether or not it will coincide with St Patrick's Day.

The Cheltenham Festival is traditionally a contest between Great Britain and Ireland as to which can produce the greatest number of winning horses, trainers and jockeys. It last for four days, from Tuesday through to Friday, and is attended by upwards of sixty thousand people each day. When St Patrick's Day coincides with a date in The Cheltenham Festival, Cheltenham becomes a sea of green and white and news reports even include items such as how many pints of Guinness were drunk on the day!

The pub is of course a big part of traditional British and Irish day to day life. There are a great many pubs in Great Britain - just as elsewhere - which are either deliberately branded as Irish pubs or have simply become so due to the majority of the clientele which frequent them being of Irish descent. These pubs are likely to be extremely gaily decorated immediately prior to and on St Patrick's Day with such as green and white balloons, bunting and even Shamrocks.

Rugby Union is a big sport in Great Britain and in Ireland and as St Patrick's Day falls right in the middle of The Six Nations season, when England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and France contest the title, St Patrick's Day falling on a Saturday can lead to ecstatic celebrations in Great Britain if Ireland happen to be visiting one of the Home Nations on the day. Irish rugby supporters are widely known - perhaps jointly with the Welsh - as being not only the most boisterous but the most sociable and friendly of them all so the parties which go on anyway during such visits can take on even greater meaning.

There is of course the negative side of St Patrick's Day in Great Britain, particularly in Scotland where religious bigotry remains so rife. A great many of the Protestant majority in and around Glasgow resent the celebrations which take place on St Patrick's Day - as happens vice versa on other occasions! - and trouble can often result. This would be especially true should a football (soccer) match between Glasgow's big two, Rangers (historically Protestant) and Celtic (historically Roman Catholic) happen to be taking place either on or around the day itself.

Largely, however, St Patrick's Day in Great Britain is a peaceful affair which is either celebrated in style or recognised as simply another ordinary day upon which to go about the business of day to day life.

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