St. Patrick's Day is all about family. It used to be about religion and going to Mass, but as Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will tell American audiences on Sunday night, there's not much Mass-going at all, at all.
So that leaves family. Getting together, re-uniting, socializing, and maybe even tucking into a heap of boiled bacon and cabbage---that's the genuine way to celebrate the day.
President Barack Obama is doing St. Paddy's Day the Irish way. He's invited some Irish relations to dinner at the White House.
Henry Healy and Ollie Hayes, descended from common ancestors on the maternal side, plan to set off on the journey made by so many emigrants, albeit in the comfort of a modern airplane rather than a coffin ship.
Now, the event won't be held exactly on the 17th of March, what with Mr. Obama's busy schedule and all, but come 20 March, Moneygall's proud sons will be made welcome in Washington, D.C.
Ever since the Irish came to America in droves, it's been important to sew up the Irish vote. Not that anyone would accuse a man in the middle of a re-election campaign of pandering to any particular electorate---but will photos taken at the event become part of the campaign literature reaching every demographic, or only the Hibernian one?
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