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Erin Go Overboard

Why do we Americans make such a travesty out of Saint Patrick's Day?

Saint David's Day is observed with decorum. Saint Andrew's Day passes without excess. Saint Joseph's Day evokes measured observance. But when it comes to March 17, restraint is cast to the winds and we are overwhelmed with bathos, blarney and booze. Even the name of the day is trivialized with its frequent description as "Paddy's Day."

The purpose of the observance is to honor a great man who converted the pagan Irish chiefs and Christianized the Emerald Isle. This was an achievement comparable to that of Saint Paul in earlier days. In addition, however, the day is set aside to honor the Irish race itself and to recall the notable and checkered history of its people and the proud achievements of its sons and daughters.

Instead of achieving some recognition of these objectives, March 17 is seized as an excuse for a stupendous wassail accompanied by maudlin and puerile sentimentalizing. This is not to say that there should not be song and a "drop of the craytur" in celebration of the saint and his people, but some glimmer of the meaning of the observance should break through. The problem is much the same as that which we now find at Christmas.

A glance at the greeting cards on the shelves shows how shallow is the understanding of the observance by American stationers and their customers. It is impossible to find a respectable card. Instead of a sensible greeting or the invocation of past traditions, one finds leprechauns and magic wells, "top o' the morning's" and little men with green top hats and clay pipes. There is a cloying cuteness or a rib-nudging jocularity, both of which are essentially demeaning.

Old Patrick was one of the world's great achievers, and his Gaelic followers have compiled a notable history as practitioners of the arts and as fighters for liberty. Why can't we Americans celebrate him and them for their true worth instead of for a concept founded in Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley?

The writer is a retired member of Congress from Connecticut.