Yes, really, today.
March 15th.
Top of the morning to you, and get celebrating.
I bet you thought St Patrick's Day was March 17th. I mean, it's always March 17th isn't it? Any excuse for a celebration of all things Emerald. A chance to pin a shamrock to your breast, whip out your shillelagh and totter down to the pub for a pint of Guinness. But no, St Patrick's Day isn't on March 17th this year. Not officially.
Then maybe you thought St Patrick's Day might be March 16th. That's the day Ken Livingstone's picked for London's annual St Patrick's Day parade. Any excuse to march down Whitehall dressed as a leprechaun. A chance to spend the whole day drinking too much while staggering round the West End wearing one of those ridiculous tall green hats and urinating into doorways. But no, St Patrick's Day isn't ever on March 16th. Not officially. It's just that Ken likes to shift any ethnic celebration to the nearest Sunday because Sundays are quieter, and it's easier to tidy up Trafalgar Square afterwards.
This year St Patrick's Day is today, March 15th. So says the Catholic church in Ireland, and they ought to know. There's a problem with March 17th this year, and it's all down to the ridiculously early Easter we're having. This year March 17th falls at the start of Holy Week, and Vatican rules decree that the Monday of Holy Week is a far more important day (liturgically speaking) than a mere provincial saints day. Most Irish Catholics celebrate St Patrick's Day by going to Mass, and it just wouldn't be right to be cheering on the Apostle of Ireland when they should be remembering the passion of our Lord. So, sorry Pat, but your special day has been displaced.
This year St Patrick's Day ought to be on Tuesday April 1st. Displaced religious festivals are supposed to shift to the next available free day in the calendar, and in 2008 that's in a fortnight's time once all the hubbub of Easter is over. But that's a very time to wait, and Irish cardinals weren't willing to hang around that long. Imagine the confusion if scheduled civic events were held back until April, and thousands of tourists turned up in Dublin two weeks prematurely. So they asked the Vatican for special dispensation to shift the official religious celebration of Paddy's Day earlier rather than later, and the Pope said yes.
So St Patrick's Day 2008 is today, on Saturday March 15th. It's an extremely rare rescheduling, and the first time anything like this has happened for nearly 70 years. Back in 1940 Easter was also ridiculously early, on March 24th in this case, which meant that St Patrick's Day clashed with Palm Sunday and had to be shifted. And this temporal relocation won't happen again until 2160, which is the next time that Easter falls on March 23rd. I'll tell you a lot more about Early Easters next week. In the meantime slap on your shamrock, doff your floppy hat and get down the pub. With a bit of luck we non-Catholic souls can all celebrate St Patrick for three days in a row this year. Make the most of it (hic)
A very happy St Patrick's Day to all my readers.
