Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) colloquially St. Paddy's Day or simply Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day that celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 387–493), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17 March.
The day is a national holiday of Ireland, a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. In United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand and Montserrat it is widely celebrated, while in the United States it is a public holiday.[1]
(... from Wikipedia on 2010-03-12 10:47:27 )