St. Patrick's Day Kilt Attire

[castledangerous]

St Patrick's Day is not by definition a Catholic Holy Day

[Declan Rowan]

St Patrick's Day is not by definition a Catholic Holy Day

Its not a Holy Day of Obligation in the US, but it is in Ireland.
http://www.churchyear.net/stpatrick.html

[planemaker]

My Saffron Kilt, and a Poloshirt that I bought when I was in Ireland last year!

Cheers!

Paul

[CDNSushi]

Looking at the list, I notice that 2/3 have some connection to Catholic Holy Days persuasion/tradition... wonder if there is any significance to that...

I don't know about that, but from my own, personal experience, Catholics can sure throw down one heckova party! Every Catholic wedding I've ever been to has been a multi-day affair, after which I spent a week recovering.

Koreans can sure throw some wingding too! The last wedding I went to was an American fellow (nominally Catholic) who married a Korean girl. I attended the wedding in Pusan, Korea. Two groups of people who can drink like I've never seen before!

I'd tell more of the story but I'd better quit before anyone with a weaker constitution is disturbed by some of the events... Let's just say that it was one for the history books and something that the children and grand-children are probably going to talk about some day...

[O'Callaghan]

Wearing something green is absolutely not a sign of catholicism, but of Irish nationalism. The custom of wearing the green as a national symbol was started in the 18th century by the United Irishmen, whose leaders (Wolfe Tone and Napper Tandy) were protestants from Dublin.

I myself will wear green on St. Patrick's Day, and I'm not a catholic. Granted virtually no Northern Ireland protestants are nationalists, but nobody said they had to celebrate St. Patrick's Day either if they don't want to.

I hope the above doesn't seem too controversial, and I know it could be seen as feeding a troll (the banned person who incorrectly said that wearing the green was catholic), but I thought it was something that had to be corrected, otherwise people might believe him.

I might or might not wear a kilt, but that depends on where I go.

Kilts originate in the Highlands, but Irish wearing the kilt is about as old as border Scots wearing the kilt, FWIW. In any case, the kilt evolved from the Irish leine (pleated tunic) and brat (striped woolen cloak).

19th century Irish kilts were all either solid green or solid saffron AFAIK, but IME Irish Americans don't care if it is tartan or whether you wear a sporran or a flat cap, etc. Irish in Ireland, OTOH, seem to have forgotten Irish kilts, but there are old photos of them, and military pipers on both sides of the border still wear saffron kilts.

So, I would say do wear the green on St. Patrick's Day if you want to celebrate Irishness, and by all means wear a kilt as long as the pleats are at the back, LOL! Don't worry about any other rules. I won't (well, I won't be wearing a kilt in a Scottish clan tartan, but then again, I don't have one). In fact I just spent a whole dollar on a bright green (felt) flat cap, and I'll wear it with a kilt if I feel like it, LOL!

[beloitpiper]

Granted virtually no Northern Ireland protestants are nationalists, but nobody said they had to celebrate St. Patrick's Day either if they don't want to.

But they do! As a Young Ambassador sent to Northern Ireland over the summer by the Friends of St. Patrick, I have to say "What better person to unite Ireland than St. Patrick?!?" A Briton that came to Ireland to spread Christianity! He's a figure that both Protestants and Catholics can support. Even as an atheist, I love St. Patrick as a symbol of bringing two historically divided communities together. He's the great Uniter!

[Madadh]

For me I always celebrate St. Padrig's day with some friends on a slow walk thru Baltimore

[thanmuwa]

For St. Patty's,

Please don't call it that, never never never Patty, always Paddy!

In Ireland, they wear blue on St. Patrick's Day because blue stands for St. Patrick. The green in the Irish flag represents Ireland's Gaelic heritage, while the orange is for the Protestant heritage, and the white is the peace the binds the country.

In all my years growing up and living in Ireland (25+) I never knew anyone to wear St Patrick's blue for Paddy's day. The old blue flag with the harp on it (a very old Irish flag) is only seen historically, never in a modern setting. Green is the modern colour of Ireland, not blue. By the way, for all those who are wondering, Irish people generally wear normal clothes.... no hunting about for green stuff necessary ... but most people will have a bunch of fresh shamrock pinned to their jumper.

But they do! As a Young Ambassador sent to Northern Ireland over the summer by the Friends of St. Patrick, I have to say "What better person to unite Ireland than St. Patrick?!?" A Briton that came to Ireland to spread Christianity! He's a figure that both Protestants and Catholics can support. Even as an atheist, I love St. Patrick as a symbol of bringing two historically divided communities together. He's the great Uniter!

A very American point of view if you don't mind me saying. Still, your optimistic future might happen sometime... the temperature dropping in Hell yet?

[macwilkin]

Please don't call it that, never never never Patty, always Paddy!
In all my years growing up and living in Ireland (25+) I never knew anyone to wear St Patrick's blue for Paddy's day. The old blue flag with the harp on it (a very old Irish flag) is only seen historically, never in a modern setting. Green is the modern colour of Ireland, not blue. By the way, for all those who are wondering, Irish people generally wear normal clothes.... no hunting about for green stuff necessary ... but most people will have a bunch of fresh shamrock pinned to their jumper.

Nevertheless, it is correct to wear "St. Patrick's Blue" on St. Patrick's Day. Whilst the custom has fallen out of favour and been replaced by the ubiquitous green, vestiges still remain -- for example, the "micks", the Irish Guards of the Household Division wear a light blue hackle on their bearskins.

This blog article discusses St. Patrick's Blue, although there are no sources, more's the pity:

http://irishpostcards.blogspot.com/2...icks-blue.html

Regards,

Todd

[Nighthawk]

I just got a clan email. It seems we're marching in the parade, so I'm going to be in Jacobite garb- if my doublet ever gets finished, that is...

I never quite understood why a group called the Renaissance Scots get invited to march in an Irish- themed parade... but hey, it's fun.