St Patrick’s Day has a rich heritage in Liverpool, being a city estimated to be 50-75% Irish.

Often used to anchor Irish activity, its origins trace to the fifth century, when Patrick was taken by pirates from Britain to Ireland as a slave. Cited as Patron Saint of Ireland from the seventh century on, St Patrick’s Day is now seen as the commemorative date for Christianity being taken to Ireland and a celebration point for all that is Irish. The shamrock is a well recognised symbol of this, as St Patrick used its segmented leaves to represent faith, hope and love and the Holy Trinity. We use it here to show the bonds between the festival, the city and Connected Irish; people, art and culture; and friends, family and community, among other meanings.

Irishness frequently provides a deep rooted connection to exceptionalism, Europeanism and family and city heritage, but in Britain and across the world, the meaning has multiple definitions and these are shifting. We are picking up on some of these and particularly Ireland’s influence on the identity of Liverpool.

Can you help?

Celebrating Irish arts and culture in all its forms, the Liverpool Irish Festival, Connected Irish and partners across the city are taking this moment to consider what St Patrick’s means to Liverpudlians by ‘greening the city’ and we need you to help us. To get more and more buildings to ‘go green’ for St Patrick’s Day we need you to support our #GreenLiverpoolYes campagn, by posting the following on to your social media feed:

I support the #GreenLiverpoolYes campaign. Liverpool city buildings: please go green from sunset/6pm on 17 Mar to sunrise/6am on 18 Mar 2018. @LivIrishFest #ConnectedIrish #Liverpool2018 #IrishEmbGB

The more posts we get, the more buildings we’re likely to attract. To be clear, this will use no more power than the existing lighting used, it will just give the city an emerald glow! Let’s show how much Liverpool loves Ireland!

From parades to seisiúns, ceílís to masses, GAA sports to business breakfasts, Liverpool celebrates St Patrick’s Day with both traditional and contemporary Irish events across the city. For some it will be a deeply religious day, whilst for others it is a chance to meet friends, remember loved ones, enjoy food and drink or raise a cup to the 44 million+ Irish diaspora living globally. As we get closer to the day, we’ll try and post events from the city here for you to see (see below).

Already committed to going green for St Patrick’s:

1. Liverpool Central Library
2. Constellations

This project is held in partnership with

and is part of

Other St Patrick’s Day events

Liverpool Irish Centre St Patrick’s Day events

11 Mar 2018, 1pm – Mass for St Patrick’s Day with celebrant Fr Sean O’Connor followed by an afternoon of entertainment for all the family.
17 Mar 2018, 12pm – Bar open (food available). GAA Club championships will be shown on the TV, including Ireland vs England (rugby) and music by Danno. In the evening, Michael Coyne will play and there’ll be Irish dancing from the Bolger Cunningham Irish Dancers. Tickets £7 on the door.
To read the Centre’s February news letter, click here.

Trial By Jury

Thurs 15-Sat 18 Mar 2018, 7pm; St George’s Hall, Tickets £18.75 all inc from TicketQuarter (click here).
Liverpool’s LoveHistory return with a brand new case this March, inviting you to decide the fate of hose on trial. Guilty or not guilty? You choose. Read the full press release here.