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St Patricks Day Party Ideas: A Great Way to Bring your Irish Side to the Most Famous Irish Holiday of All!
St Patricks Day party ideas on your mind? Look at you and your Irish good luck! You have found the perfect place. St Patricks Day is one of the most famous (and the most fun!) excuses to celebrate Irish culture year after year. And we don't have to wait until March 17th to do it!
In this post we will share many more ways to bring St Patricks Day party ideas to life whenever you want, and wherever you are in the world.
Now - if you prefer to skip all of the background and get right to the pot of gold, you can jump immediately to your favorite topic:
- St Patricks Day Games
- St Patricks Day Trivia
- St Patricks Day Recipes
- St Patricks Day Jokes
- St Patricks Day Poems
- St Patricks Day Crafts
But if you would like to know a bit more about this amazing holiday first ... then read on and enjoy!
I'm Loving St Patricks Day Party Ideas. But ...
What Exactly are We Celebrating?
The purpose of this famous Irish holiday is to commemorate the life of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. His 4th-century arrival on the shores of the Emerald Isle changed the culture of the land forever.
The Irish Celts had always been pagan, but St. Patrick’s arrival introduced a gradual conversion to Christianity.
Now, of course, the Irish Republic is predominantly Roman Catholic.
How Do They Celebrate Saint Patricks Day in Ireland?
Because of its religious origins and continuing status as a Roman Catholic holy day, many Irish families attend church services on St. Patricks Day.
But there is certainly another side to this most famous Irish tradition.
March 17 is the day when green beer flows freely from the taps of bars throughout the world. The St Paddy's day parties - involving many creative St Patrick's Day party ideas - are in full swing.
And in fairness, the religious restrictions on drinking alcohol during Lent that are normally in place are lifted for the day.
So, many Irish lift a pint of Guinness Stout or Harp Lager before or after dinner, in honor of Ireland's patron saint.
What's Up with All The Green?
There are many reasons to associate green with Ireland, and by extension with its Saint Patricks Day traditions.
Green is one of the colors in Ireland's tri-color flag. It is also the color most typically associated with the classic Irish symbol, the shamrock, and of course Ireland herself is frequently referred to by her nickname, the "Emerald Isle."
So naturally, you’d see a lot of green being worn around the world on St. Patricks Day – just as it is in Ireland.
Now, enough with the background. Let's get on to the St Patricks Day party ideas!
St Patricks Day Games
Having a St Patricks day party? Entertain your party guests with a Limerick Writing Game, with the prize going to the individual or team who writes the best limerick!
Or try an Irish Slang Words Match Game and give chocolate coins and leprechaun hats to the contestants with the highest scores.
Or try filling in the blanks in an Irish Sayings Quiz (perhaps with a bit of Irish stew and Irish whiskey) and be prepared to laugh until you cry!
Ready to learn more about St Patricks day games? Let’s go!
A Limerick Writing Game
Here is a fun game with many possible variations. The core idea is: write the funniest limerick poem.
You can play the game in teams (our favorite) or you can play the game individually (raffle-style) by handing in your answers.
Both versions involve an answer-card containing sample limericks with important words left out. The trick is to fill in your own words to produce the funniest, most creative, most memorable limericks.
To have a closer look at our free, downloadable Limerick Poems Game Card, visit us here!
Irish Slang Word-Match Game
If you have never come in contact with Irish slang, well, you are in for a treat!
And if you have had that experience, like us, you probably recall at least a moment of confusion (or maybe a whole evening of it).
Never fear - our favorite Irish Slang Words game is here!
In this fun St Patricks Day game, you celebrate your Irish ancestry by matching Irish slang words with their meanings. The individual or team who makes the most correct matches wins the game and gets a prize!
To learn more about our free, downloadable Irish Slang Words Game, visit us here!
Irish Sayings Quiz
This one is similar to the Irish Slang Words game, but in this case individuals or teams seek to complete famous Irish sayings by filling in missing words. Think: Mad Libs meets St Patrick's Day!
For you perfectionists, it is absolutely possible to get a perfect score. All answers can be found somewhere on Irish-Expressions.com. If you don't want to work that hard, you can download the answers - but what fun would that be?!
Play it individually or play it in teams - it is great craic either way!
To download the free, printable Irish Sayings Quiz Game Card (and the answers), visit us here!
Funny Irish Names Game
By popular demand! Here is an entertaining way to share your Irish side - Funny Irish names!
Imagine: your guests arrive to your party, and are handed a game-card that shows them how to generate a funny Irish name for the evening.
Your friend John Doe (aka: Stewie O'Wooly) uses his funny Irish name to enter the party raffle and wins a holiday fruitcake (or some chocolate gold coins)!
Click here to learn more about our funny Irish names game, play it for yourself, and download a printable version for your next Irish occasion!
Irish Music Crossword Puzzle
Think you know your traditional Irish Music? Want a fun puzzle to test your Irish Music knowledge, or add a special challenge to your next Irish occasion?
Try our Irish Music Crossword Puzzle!
Brief, yet challenging, this puzzle will give you 20 clues, covering Irish music celebrities, songs and instruments.
The free download will provide you with a printable copy of the puzzle AND the answers.
Click here to download this fun St Patricks Day game for free!
More St Patricks Day Party Ideas
Here are some more of our favorite ways to express our Irish sides on St Patricks Day:
Saint Patrick Day Trivia
We love to impress our friends and family by sharing little-known Irish facts over the St Patricks Day dinner table!
But that gets boring before too long... St Patricks Day games and contests based on Irish trivia are much more fun.
If you have your heart set on winning your next St Patricks day game, reading this section will guarantee victory! (I have my fingers crossed as I write this... :-).
Visit our St Patricks Day Trivia page for more information.
Other Saint Patricks Day Activities
From parades of little leprechauns, to an Irish-themed scavenger hunt, to trivia games to limerick-writing contests, to lucky charms :-)... A good St Patricks Day celebration has it all!
Visit our section on St Patricks Day Activities to get fresh ideas on how to enjoy a memorable St Patricks Day year after year!
Click here for St Patrick's Day Activities!
St Patricks Day Recipes
Well, personally I could eat corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread every... single ... year.
Boom! Mic drop.
But if you would like a bit more variety in your St Patrick's Day dinner party (and maybe a bit more traditional Irish food :-), get out the green food coloring (just kidding) and visit our sections on St Patricks Day recipes. There you will find many delicious Irish party food including appetizers, dinners, desserts and drinks.
Click here for St Patricks Day Recipes, including delicious St Patricks Day drinks, desserts, and appetizers.
St Patrick's Day Jokes
I don't know why, but there are many, many hilarious Irish jokes out there. In fact this site originally started as a collection of jokes and other funny Irish sayings.
We have collected a few that are most relevant to St Patricks Day party ideas, but trust me you will find links to all the Irish jokes you could possibly want. Some short, some long, some bawdy, some clean - but all a good time for the whole family.
We hope to see you in our St Patricks Day Jokes section right here.
Saint Patrick Day Poems
Anybody remember the bartender who doubled as a poet in the movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise?
St Patrick Day Poems and Dreams baby. You're a poet and you know it. Now is your time to rhyme.
Find some fun examples of St Patricks Day Poems right here.
Saint Patricks Day Crafts
A great option to give any holiday a personal twist is to MAKE something as a party favor related to that holiday. And St Patricks Day is no exception.
Please enjoy our articles on St Patricks Day crafts. And as always we would love to hear about your favorite Irish craft projects as well!
Click the following links to find our articles on St. Patricks Day Crafts, and St Patricks Day Kids Crafts.
More Fun With Irish Expressions
Congratulations on learning more about the Emerald Isle and discovering what we like to call your "Irish Side." You may be thinking "I'd love to actually VISIT Ireland but that's really not in the cards right now. What am I supposed to do with the stuff I just learned?"
Well never fear! Since 2009 we have collected all of the best printable, shareable resources we could find, to help you put your new knowledge of Ireland to good use. We've put them all together in a single download we call "Your Irish Expressions Playbook," which contains over 50 pages of games, puzzles, recipes, songbooks, quizzes, travel guides and much, much more.
Purchase them ALL for one small price, print as many copies as you like and share them with your friends - with no limitations! But order soon - we are already adding to the Playbook for future editions and this price will not last long.
Oh, want one more reason to order right away? If you buy YOUR copy of the Playbook now, you will be allowed to upgrade to any new future edition for FREE.
ORDER YOUR IRISH EXPRESSIONS PLAYBOOK HERE