Only in America ... it's St. Patrick's Day -- at least as we've come to know it.

The traditions surrounding the religious-holiday-meets-expression-of-pride-meets-party-hearty-marathon have come a long way since a shepherd named Maewyn Succat became the patron saint of Ireland.

So much so that a Dubliner like Declan Synnott couldn't believe his eyes when he celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day in America.

Beyond parade, the party flows to area pubs

There's the parade, of course.

At 1:04 p.m. Wednesday, the 143rd installment of Cleveland's St. Patrick's Day Parade will step off at Superior Avenue and East 18th Street.

But the action will start earlier and run much later in these Irish pubs:

Flannery's Pub, 323 E. Prospect Ave., Cleveland, 216-781-7782: Whoa, an all-day bash by Pogues tribute band the Boys From County Hell? Yep, it runs from 1 to 8 p.m. They better not run out of beer.

Charles Stewart Parnell Pub, 2167 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-321-3469. No chest thumping. No kitsch. Just a swell neighborhood bar that just as well could be in Ireland.

P.J. McIntyre's Irish Pub, 17119 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-941-9311: This place feels like an old pub an ocean away -- from the words of W.B. Yeats inscribed under the beer taps to the old-looking wooden sign that directs you to Ireland (or to the bathroom). It opens at 7 a.m. on St. Paddy's Day and features dancers, pipers and music by Mary's Lane.

Stamper's Grill Pub, 21750 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, 440-333-7826: What happens when you cross an Irish Tiki "Paddy-O Bar" with green beer? Yep, a woohoo time that starts at noon and boasts Irish food and music by Brace Yourself Bridget.

Stone Mad, 1306 West 65th St., Cleveland, 216-281-6500: Yes, the enchanted cobblestone drive came from Scranton Road. But Stone Mad looks and feels like a pub in Ireland. The St. Paddy's Day party here will, too. Corned beef, yes. But the pub will serve up Irish stew and soda bread, and music by Killroys (10 a.m.) and Pitch the Peat (3 p.m.).

Nighttown, 12383 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-795-0550: Corned beef and cabbage, of course. But this pub will also serve up salmon from Ireland, lamb stew and music by the New Barleycorn (5 and 8 p.m.).

The Treehouse, 820 College Ave., Cleveland, 216-696-2505: Yes, it opens 10 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day, with beer, corned beef and music by Pitch the Peat (8 p.m.). But this Tremont mainstay also boasts St. Paddy's eve and day-after parties. Loch Erie kicks it off at 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the Treehouse's hangover bash is at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Harp, 4408 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, 216-939-0200: It's like an Irish cottage looking out on Lake Eire, er, I mean, Erie. But it's also Ground Zero on St. Paddy's Day, when it rolls out a tent -- starting at 8 a.m. -- complete with beer, pipers and Irish treats.

-- John Petkovic

"It was a culture shock," says Synnott, co-owner of the Charles Stewart Parnell Pub in Cleveland Heights. "In Ireland, you go to church and spend the day with your family. In America, it's a big party."

The party comes with all sorts of Irish traditions. You know, like corned beef.

"I never knew that was an Irish tradition, at least while I lived in Ireland," says Synnott, who came to America in 1994. "I always thought it was a Jewish thing."

Well, it was -- until New Yorkers co-opted it into St. Patrick's Day.

"My mom thinks it's hysterical," says Eileen Sammon, a first-generation Irish-American and co-owner of Stone Mad pub in Cleveland. "She never even had corned beef until she moved to America."

That hasn't stopped mom from cooking for the pub's St. Patrick's Day celebration. And, yes, Sheila Sammon makes corned beef -- as well as Old World St. Paddy staples such as Irish stew and soda bread.

Green beer is the line in the sand for many Irish, though.

"Why ruin a perfectly good Irish beer?" Synnott says. "There's a reason Guinness isn't green."

Ah, but everyone loves a parade -- even if it, too, is an American creation.

Seeing it was a culture shock for Irish expat Brendan Ring, owner of Nighttown in Cleveland Heights.

"I moved to America on March 16, 1984," says Ring. "So the next day, I took the subway to Manhattan to see the parade."

At first, he felt a little confused.

"I didn't know what was going on when I saw a black man on the train with his hair dyed green -- I never even saw an Irishman with green hair," says Ring. "But when I walked outside and saw a sea of green in this massive parade, I realized that I wasn't a foreigner anymore: We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day."

We're all Irish in no small part because of these traditions -- created in America and embraced as part of St. Patrick's Day: