St. Patrick's Day in Chicago

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On March 17, thousands of Chicagoans dress in jade, speak in an Irish brogue, and attend revels serving green beverages. Whether they know it or not, they are commemorating the death of Maewyn Succat, also known as Patricius or Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick was credited with bringing Christianity to the Emerald Isle in the 5th century A.D.

The holiday was originally a political event. Irish immigrants entering America – due to their homeland's potato famine – were greeted with resentment, discrimination, and violence. Thrust mainly into urban centers, the Irish-Americans united as a community and staged parades in many business districts across the country on St. Patrick's Day as a display of cultural identity and pride. The first one to march in Chicago was in 1843.

In the last half century, the anniversary has become more than just an Irish celebration, with people from all cultures getting in on the fun…so much so that the City of Chicago annually dyes the Chicago River green for the day.

It was 1961 when Stephen Bailey, Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #130, noticed the splotchy coveralls of a plumber who'd been trying to locate and disengage a waste line emptying into the river. To find the correct line, the plumber poured green or orange dye (depending on whom you ask) into several openings of the waste system, effectively dying the edge of the river green. Bailey consulted Captain John Manley and First Deputy Port Director Bill Barry about attempting to dye the entire river green for the following St. Patrick's Day. When permission was granted, the union added 100 pounds of dye for the 1962 parade, turning the river green for a week.

Today, Chicago Journeymen Local Union #130 uses a safer and more moderate amount of dye to paint the river Irish green for several hours.

The City of Chicago has gotten even greener over the years. A walk downtown after sundown on St. Patrick's Day will reveal hundreds of buildings flooded with green light, including the Hancock Building and the Sears Tower…appropriate for a city with such prominent Irish figures as White Sox founder Charles Comiskey, James T. Farrell of the Studs Lonigan novels, and, of course, Mayor Richard M. Daley.


Article by Adam Carter