Happy St. Patrick's Day

tee-Commonwealth Press

These pics were taken with Mr. Keller's phone at Rugger's Pub before we got down to the task of day drinking for parade day this past Saturday. Not much to say on the outfit front, just wore my celebratory tee-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. 

Here's a little history for you...  St. Patrick's Day is a feast day honoring the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick's Day was originally intended as a holy day to observe the arrival of Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick himself was English, not Irish. He was born into an aristocratic family, but was kidnapped and taken to Ireland. Eventually, he escaped, went home, became a priest, and returned to Ireland to convert the natives to Christianity.  Until fairly recently, St. Patrick's Day was celebrated only as a religious holiday in Ireland. People were given the day off from work; they went to church, and then they shared a big roast dinner with their families. The pubs were required to remain closed that day, so no green beer — or beer of any sort, for that matter — was allowed to be served in public. It was the Irish in America and Canada that turned the saint's day into the full-blown party that it's become. Consumption of Guinness stout more than doubles on March 17; around 13 million pints will be imbibed worldwide today.