American Customs

Fact: There are more Americans of Irish descent than the Irish. According to Sínead of QVC there are 4 million people on the island of Ireland and 40 million in the USA.
Festivities can begin up to a week before Saint Patrick’s Day. Entertainers go on tour.
Colleges and universities have special Irish programs: poets, violinists: fiddlers, singers, dancers, actors, history, folklore.
Mass is attended on the morning of Saint Patrick’s Day with an afternoon parade in larger cities. Boston’s began in 1737.
Television programs on Saint Patrick are run
Evenings are dinners, dances, and celebrations in homes, restaurants, pubs, and Irish clubs.
Green Mardi Gras Beads are a new custom. Greeting cards are in stores. (1. 11)