The day we are green with envy

For many today will be a momentous journey along which they finally discover their long-lost Irish heritage.

Real or imagined, St Patrick's Day is 24 hours when it does not seem to matter.

Anna Fale of New Plymouth's Rosie O'Grady's Irish Pub counts Holland as the land of her forebears but that does not stop her pouring the pints for the faithful today.

She expects to pour hundreds of glasses of Guinness and Kilkenny during their busiest day of the year.

While she encourages particularly enthusiastic revellers to start the day with a hearty Irish-style fry-up, her morning meal will almost certainly be muesli.

"Well. I'm pregnant so that's what I always have," she said.

Ray Primrose does not have a drop of Irish blood but that will not stop him helping a few pints find a home tomorrow.

"I've got Norwegian, English and a little bit of Maori so I'm a bit of a mongrel really. I'm the last of the Vikings. I'll be here in the afternoon for a while though," he said.

New Plymouth's Michael MacDonald, of indisputable Scottish descent, remembered when St Patrick's Day did not involve a pint of Guinness and a silly hat.

"I went to St Joseph's school and we used to have a sports day in Stratford on St Patrick's Day. I was good at rugby but there were all sorts going on," he reminisced.

Across the globe, St Patrick's Day is now celebrated by millions.

Though it began life as a Christian holiday celebrating the life of Ireland's favourite patron saint it is now a celebration of all things Irish.

In Chicago, a city with a strong Irish heritage, the river is dyed green for the day.

In Argentina, home to the fifth largest Irish community outside of Ireland, tens of thousands of green clothed revellers take to the streets and there is even a parade in South Korea.

St Patrick is credited with converting the Irish to Christianity and was said to have used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.

- © Fairfax NZ News