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How discrimination against Irish Catholics shaped St. Patrick's Day in the U.S.

How did St. Patrick’s Day transform from a religious observance into the commercialized bacchanal we know today?

Here & Now‘s Indira Lakshmanan speaks with Jennifer Nugent Duffy, PhD. She wrote “Who’s Your Paddy? Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom