St. Patrick's Day: The history behind the holiday in the United States
Fox News
Fox News reached out to the rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City to explain a few of the finer points of the holiday.
"The official feast day in the Catholic Church of St. Patrick of Ireland is March 17," Ritchie says. "That's why it's always celebrated here in New York on the 17th itself; in Ireland, it's a holy day of obligation, and the people have to go to church." As Ritchie explained, the practice of celebrating St. Patrick's Day here in America pre-dates the country itself. "It's amazing, it started before there was a United States," he said. "George Washington's troops, who were Irish at the time, marched up Broadway on the 17th of March, and they celebrated the first St. Patrick's Day in New York."More Related News