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Admin moved page How Did Saint Patrick's Day Develop? to How Did Saint Patrick's Day Develop
Even after the conversion to Protestantism and migration of English to Ireland in the 1600s, the Anglican calendar has retained Saint Patrick as part of their celebrations. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Saint Patrick's day began to take a nationalistic characteristic against Protestant and British forces in Ireland. In 1903, Saint Patrick's day in Ireland held its first parade in Waterford, which was the home of the bishop who had created Saint Patrick's day as an official feast day. In 1916, large-scale Saint Patrick's day marches and parades were held in Ireland, where the anti-British occupation Irish Volunteers sponsored these marches and parades. Some accounts suggest many or even most of the participants may have been armed, signifying the troubled period during British occupation throughout Ireland. With the partition of Ireland after the creation of the Irish Free State, celebrations in Northern Ireland began to reflect Protestant and Catholic divisions. The Unionists of Northern Ireland, although recognizing Saint Patrick's day as a holiday, did not hold any official celebrations, while the Catholics used the day as a way to protest against the Unionists.<ref>For more on the tradition of the Saint Patrick's parade and celebrations, see: Barth, E. (1977). <i>Shamrocks, harps, and shillelaghs: the story of the St. Patrick’s Day symbols</i>. New York: Clarion Books. </ref>
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In the United States, widespread migration in the mid-19th century led to celebrations of Saint Patrick's day. However, it has been claimed that already by 1762 celebrations of Saint Patrick's day, and even the first official parade, had taken place in New York. By the late 18th and early 19th century, Irish migrants had begun to also hold neighborhood celebrations as a way to remember their cultural identity. In the mid-19th century, celebrations and parades were held in places such as New York, Boston, and other places mostly in the eastern United States (Figure 2). US traditions, in may respects, in the 20th century influence the global spread and influence of Saint Patrick's day.<ref>For more on Irish-American traditions, see: Dolan, J. P. (2008). <i>The Irish Americans: a history</i> (1st U.S. ed). New York: Bloomsbury Press.</ref>
For many countries and places, Saint Patrick's day is a good excuse for a party. However, in Ireland, traditions in the past meant the celebrations were usually somber. No alcohol was even allowed to be sold on the day in Ireland until that law was repealed in the 1960s. The day involved mass in the morning and then a military parade followed, reflecting the influence of the conflicts between the Unionist and nationalist elements from the early 20th century.<ref>For more on the history of Ireland in the 20th century and Saint Patrick's day, see: Skinner, J., & Bryan, D. (2015).<i> Consuming St. Patrick’s Day</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.</ref>
It was in the 1960s that people began to adopt the US version of celebrations, with the day often being associated with heavy drinking and parades. In the US, the celebratory tradition has since the 18th century been more a reflection of national and social identity. Rather than a somber day, it became more celebratory in Ireland as well in the 1960s. Although Irish Catholics often did face discrimination throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, their celebrations were generally more jovial, as the little outward conflict was evident, unlike in Ireland. Some in the US began to use Saint Patrick's day celebrations as a way to reinforce stereotypes, such as drunken behavior among Irish Catholics. However, the positive jovial spirit also became attractive to those who were neither Irish nor even Catholic. In the 1960s, as the Republic of Ireland moved beyond periods of conflict, Saint Patrick's day was seen more a reflection of national identity. US-style marketing, such as all things green, including beer and milkshakes, has also spread since the 1960s. In the US, the day became associated with everyone having an excuse for being Irish for a day at least. Thus, more similar to Halloween, celebrations in the United States of the holiday did not reflect national or cultural identity as much over time, as many people joined celebrations, and it became a more collective celebration. The US-style celebrations spread in many parts of the world, where Saint Patrick's day is not (unofficially at least) often celebrated. Today, Saint Patrick's day parades can be found in such places as Japan, Korea, Turkey, and various parts of Europe. In the UK, Saint Patrick's day remained muted until the 1990s, mostly because of the Troubles and associated bombings that occurred. It was after the Good Friday agreement in 1998 that celebrations in the UK began to be more similar to the United States.<ref>For more on the recent spread of Saint Patrick's day celebrations, see: Inglis, T. (2008). <i>Global Ireland: same difference</i>. New York, N.Y. ; London: Routledge.</ref>
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