St Patrick’s Day
When: March 17
What: The annual celebration of St Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. Festivities usually involve drinking pint after pint of Guinness – best if it’s been dyed green.
Where: Any of the billion or so Irish pubs around the world, or head to Dublin for the biggest party. The Irish capital hosts a huge parade and other special events.
Why: St Pat is lauded for driving the snakes out of Ireland (a myth), inventing Guinness (I made that one up), and helping entrench Christianity in Ireland.
Do it because: Everyone else will be doing it. The Irish do boozing and partying better than anyone – they’ve even got a special word for it: craic.
How much: The cost of a pint or nine and a fake shamrock tattoo.
