Wear green or be pinched. Drink a green beer. Have a few too many and practice “Irish Yoga.” Pretend to have Irish ancestry for the day.Speak to many non-Irish Edmontonians and these will usually be the kind of things they have done on St. Patrick’s day. James McGonigal, Canadian born and raised, but also a “plastic paddy” or non-natural born Irish citizen, will say “The real Irish don’t need that….” He was correct. At the Edmonton Irish Sport and Social Club, people did wear green, but I did not notice a single pinch incident for those not wearing the colour. No green beer was to be found. Everybody stayed away from ambulance needing intoxication.

“We just are Irish” said James.

So how exactly do the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s day? It begins early. From 8 until 9:30 am the ISS was hosting breakfast for those who had tickets for the day’s activities. During breakfast the All Ireland Final for Gaelic Football was shown live. A fair crowd of around one hundred people showed up in the early hours of the morning. NOt all at once mind you, but roughly, one hundred during the breakfast hours. The breakfast was almost everything you would expect for a true Irish experience: eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and soda bread. Noticeably absent was some form of potato, which James had led me to believe was present in every meal.

Many people were already crowded into the pub area of the ISS, no doubt waiting for the day to truly begin when alcohol sales started. Sure enough, when they did there was a small group waiting to order. Wise enough not to order a green beer, myself and James did receive looks of shock asking for Irish Car-bombs at 11 am. A Car-bomb is a drop shot where a shot glass of half Bailey’s or other Irish cream and half Irish whiskey is placed into a small glass of Guinness and finish at once. Normally reserved for late night parties, or in our case, celebrations, the staff thought it a bit much for a Saturday morning. However,they did not find Jameson whiskey on the rocks odd as a follow-up. The selection at the ISS is quite good. Guinness is available as is Smithwick’s and Strongbow cider all on tap, as well the Irish cider Magner’s and a fair selection of the usual Canadian domestics can be found in bottles. If Irish whiskey is your poison, the pub does well to give you options to meet your tastes. As well, a smattering of domestic spirits and liqeurs are also available.

Soon after the All Ireland Final was finished the first of many Irish Dance troupes performed. I will admit to poor reporting skills as I did not catch the name of any of the myriad of dance troupes that performed, but luckily the ISS provides contact information for the regions troupes on their webpage. So if you are looking for info on Irish Dancing check here. The first group was an adult aged group. They performed to music played via CD that had a very rock-like undertone to the traditional celtic folk that it was.

By the time the group had finished it was getting into the afternoon and the hall was beginning to swell with more revellers. Extra tables were set out and a patio was shown to be open for those willing to brave the chilly overcast day. Among the revelers was a bit of Irish myth. There was a leprechaun afoot! This leprechaun broke the traditional character of hoarding his treasure and instead handed out chocolate coins to the children and women present.

Our group swelled with the crowd as James’ family joined us, and I must say I was quite relieved for the respite. No longer did I need to strain to understand each word spoken to me because of a thick Irish brogue. Not that there is anything wrong with a good accent. They can be difficult for a mind clouded by a variety of Irish beverages.

The addition of the family brought about a very amusing arrangement. It was at this point that myself and one of the girls (James’s sisters) dates were outed as non-Irish and told we had to serve the Irish.

This could be because it was “The greatest day of the year” according to Jim, James’ father. Whatever reason it was all in good fun.

Soon another dance troupe performed and although the dancers looked tired, no doubt from the multitude of performances they had already had earlier that same day and throughout the preceding day, they gave a fantastic performance that brought applause from all.

They would not be the last group to bring the house to a standstill as each group was given the full attention of their audience. Their was around 6 separate performances by various dance school or different groups from one school who had been split up for the day and the crowd loved each one. Some used CD’s and some had an accompanying band to preform the celtic lilts.

In between dance performances music was provided sometimes by Mark McGarrigle and at other times by Darina Harvey. Both sang a collection of traditional Irish tunes, Canadian folk tunes, and the general pop songs found at most community dances. Some tunes elicited dancing from the crowd while others, like McGarrigle’s stirring rendition of Green Field’s of France (link to Eric Bogle’s version) brought about a rousing sing-a-long from young and old alike.

Later in the night the dance floor was filled and the hall was filled with a community minded party atmosphere wherein all present couldn’t help but smile and enjoy the joviality of the day.

How did you spend St.Patrick’s day? leave a comment and let us know! share your stories on facebook!