Throw the Best St. Patrick’s Day Party Ever

by Liz Roberts in Holidays, March 8, 2009

Don’t throw a lame party featuring green clothing and even greener beer. Celebrate in true Irish style with the rich foods and culture that is the Emerald Isle. Your guests will think they’ve hit the proverbial pot of gold for that evening.

6) It’s more than just jigs. This is the night to play U2’s new , four star rated album No Line on the Horizon. Critics have hailed this as one of the band’s all time best and it should be in stores now. If you’re looking for more traditional, try any of the great Loreena McKennitt’s , windswept albums or Irish favorite , Enya’s homage to her Gaelic roots. There’s also Clannad that paved the way for her.

7) Movie time. There are a great many movies celebrating Irish history and culture. You can rent or even buy John Wayne’s The Quiet Man (1952) , a romantic comedy about an Irish American discovering love and life on his ancestors’ land. For more serious fare there’s 1992’s Michael Collins, the story of the great Irish patriot and revolutionary of the same name. For a real Gaelic tribute and salute , look to Daniel Day Lewis celebrating his Irish heritage in In The Name of The Father and My Left Foot. The first movie made in 1993 tells the story of Gerry Conlon wrongfully jailed for pub bombings in England in 1972. The second tells of the gifted artist, Christy Brown who was born with cerebral palsy. This was the movie that won Day-Lewis his first Oscar and Bafta awards

Celebrate the bard. Ireland has given the world a great number of writers and poets. Read selections of James Joyce or Frank McCourt. There is Cecil Day Lewis, father of the above mentioned Daniel , who was Poet Laureate of. England. The father of modern day vampire tales, Bram Stoker was also Irish, having been born in Dublin, and also related to the Scottish born Irishman Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Another fun thing is reading the modern day and Nobel Prize literature winner, Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf. This is an Irishman’s take on the great Anglo Saxon epic story.

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9) Be safe. If you‘ve had too much to drink either go home with a designated driver or pna on staying over at your host’s home. You may be welcomed to a big Irish breakfast the next morning (which sadly is a work day).

Have a St Patrick’s Day party that even St Patrick himself would be proud to attend. Celebrate Ireland’s rich history and cuisine instead of goofy traditons that involve food coloring and lime green sweaters.