The History of St.Patrick’s Day In Wester NY

How St.Patrick’s Day Goes Local

By Julieanna LaDuca

Everyone remembers from childhood the good old leprechaun who visits kids’ schools and plays a bunch of fun pranks. Some pranks recalled were: like turning the bathroom green, leaving a trail of green footprints and leaving little goodies on the desk. Since everyone’s grown up now let’s look deeper into what this holiday really means in the eyes of tradition and local celebrations.

Saint Patrick’s Day itself is actually originally named after a man who had the name Saint Patrick. As for a briefing Saint Patrick was born in Britain was brought to serve in Ireland as a slave at 16 years old. The true meaning then comes from him escaping and bringing the gift of God to his original country. The three clovers were meant to signify the Holy Trinity known as: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is actually ironic to today because everyone uses these clovers for luck but that’s not the original symbol.

According to the History Channel, the first ever celebration of this official event was held on March 17th, 1601, in St.Augustine Florida where a parade was held by the Spanish Colony at the time. Several feasts were held before this but they were never celebrating the actual St.Patrick’s Day. These large feasts that were previously celebrated were to honor the actual man named Saint Patrick. A parade then followed more than a century later of Irish Soldiers to honor Saint Patrick himself.

Over time when immigration came around traditions started to flood into America through Irish Patriotism. Through this dynamic that was brought in, groups started to flourish as the first few official one’s were known as: Friendly Sons Of Saint Patrick and Hibernian Society. These groups who formed were given the name “Irish Aid” Societies.

When it comes to being local, Saint Patrick’s day has many societies in tons of cities that celebrate their Irish history with the public. There are some around this local area which are both known for their incorporation into American culture giving everyone a chance to experience meaningful parts of history like: celebrations, and food, and live music all centered around the true Irish history of America. The two mostly known of are: Town O’ Tonawanda irish-American Club, and Buffalo Irish Club. The Buffalo Irish Club actually has a whole venue where you can rent out rooms for parties and different types of celebrations.

            These centers are located in Buffalo and Tonawanda and when the Tonawanda one formed there weren’t many local places focusing on the Irish heritage. The only known one at the time is the oldest one in Buffalo and was 20 miles away located in South Buffalo. This inspired the founders of Town O’ Tonawanda who were three couples at the time and marched in the official parade to get word out.  A great reasoning from the Town O’ Tonawanda website describes what made sense, “Since there were a significant number of people of Irish descent in the area of North Buffalo, Kenmore and the Tonawandas, an Irish club in the area seemed feasible.”

To spotlight some local events here are some 2025 Buffalo celebrations. The first city included is Buffalo with 5 events all different in what they offer. One of these events is a parade called the “Old Neighborhood” Saint Patrick’s Day Parade happening on March 15th. There are 3 bar crawl events happening in Buffalo with 2 being on the 15th of March and one being on the 17th of March. The last Buffalo event taking place is by Steel Leaf as a Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration on March 15th.

In Niagara Falls there is an annual Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration on March 14th, which is also spotlighting its 41st year. This is happening at the Niagara Falls Convention Center and is one of the main events people often attend. There are a few more happening one being in Lockport and two more located in West Seneca New York and Hamburg New York. The one in West Seneca is March 15th which is labeled as a normal Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration. The one in Hamburg is March 15th and this one includes a Leprechaun Crawl along with a Beer Tent.

You can’t put a price on being true to your heritage along with being local, which is why it’s important to spotlight these places at a meaningful time because there’s so much history intertwined that deserves to be shown and explained.