Irish Americans Shouldn't Celebrate Victimhood

Including a 32-mile walk and the world's shortest parade

(NEWSER) - St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just about beer drinking and snake exterminating: there are a wealth of other odd traditions surrounding the holiday. AOL News reports on a few:

• For 35 years now, a Toronto man has walked to a town 32 miles away for a drink, honoring a tradition that dates back to Prohibition. Back then, it was the only place around that served beer.

St. Paddy's Day revelers will have to do their crooning elsewhere...

(NEWSER) - That annual Guinness-fueled serenade led by green-hat-and-bead-clad Yanks wearing "Kiss me, I'm Irish" pins won't be heard at Foley's Pub in New York today; barkeep Shaun Clancy has banned the maudlin lyrics of "Danny Boy" during the month of March, and especially on St. Patrick's Day. "Everybody thinks that after three pints, you're entitled to get up there and butcher the song," says Clancy. More»

President begins Europe tour

(NEWSER) - President Obama arrived in Ireland today, and said the nation shares a “blood link” with his country because of the millions of Irish-Americans who live in the US. The president, of course, has his own blood link with Ireland, and is planning a visit to the home of his great-great-great grandfather in Moneygall today, the AP reports. Obama, who has been affectionately nicknamed O’Bama by locals, is in Ireland to hold talks on trade, Reuters adds. More»

Culinary historians break down the ancient Irish diet

(NEWSER) - Forget the corned beef and green beer; if you really want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, why not make yourself a nice bowl of gruel? Because that was probably a major part of St. Patrick’s diet, according to culinary historians at the University College of Cork. Other things the famed enemy-of-snakes likely partook of include seaweed, eggs, honey, fish, meal pastes, cereal, fruits, nuts, cheeses and milk, the Irish Times reports. More»

Better make that White House beer a Guinness

(NEWSER) - The beer James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates have with the president should be a Guinness if genetics are anything to go by, Irish Central reports. The Harvard professor and the Cambridge cop—along with about 3 million other people—are distant cousins with shared Irish heritage, both descended from 4th-century Irish warlord Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose prowess on the battlefield and in the bedroom was legendary. More»