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Article: St. Patrick's Day in U.S. at odds with Ireland's religious holiday.
- Article from:
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Article date:
- March 6, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 South Florida Sun-Sentinal. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Susannah Bryan
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ As a lad in Ireland, Dermott Reid never downed a pint of green beer or got pinched for not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day.
Those are American customs, said the Dublin native, now a resident of Sunrise, Fla.
"St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday in Ireland," Reid said. "The first thing you do is go to church."
Here in America, March 17 is a day of beer-fueled frivolity for many, a secular holiday filled with visions of shamrocks and leprechauns more than penance and prayer.
"The big thing here is corned beef and cabbage," said Reid, who left Dublin in 1963. "In Ireland, ...