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Whether it's a pint of the black stuff, a strong cup of tea or a McDonald's Shamrock Shake, St Patrick's Day's a day for giving thanks. So raise your glass and give thanks with this witty Irish quips.

St. Patrick’s Day - a world wide celebration of all things Irish. People from Dublin, to New York, Sydney to Beijing take the day off work (in Ireland it’s a complete holiday) and celebrate all the great thing about being Irish.

It’s the season where folks celebrate St. Patrick, the man best known for banishing snakes from the green fields of Ireland.

You'll love this collection of some of the most-famous words to ever come out of Ireland.

As one of the prime destinations on Ireland’s west coast, the Dingle Peninsula is rich in seacoast vistas, pristine beaches, rugged mountain passes, and deep green valleys as well as colorful little towns, fishing ports, and great pubs.

The term 'Black Irish' has commonly been in circulation among Irish emigrants and their descendants for centuries. As a subject of historical discussion the subject is almost never referred to in Ireland. There are a number of different claims as to the origin of the term, none of which are possible to prove or disprove.

A chance conversation over a pint of Guinness in the1970s led an Irishman on a literary odyssey to prove that the Burren, in County Clare inspired JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth in “The Lord of the Rings”.

From the Cliffs of Moher to the Hill of Tara what better way to celebrate Irishness than with the beauty of Ireland

If you’re heading down South to the country’s “real capital," or just heading to Ireland in general, you simply have to step inside a traditional Irish pub. Despite the smoking ban, and a fairly hefty tax-rate on liquor sales, the Irish pub scene continues to thrive and features as largely as ever in modern Irish life.

IrishCentral brings you the low down on the top 100 most common Irish surnames with a little explanation of where these names come from. 

Scituate, a pleasant seaside town thirty miles from Boston is the most Irish town in the United States according to the U.S census.
 
All in all 16 communities within the South Shore neighborhoods of Boston  have the highest percentage of people of Irish descent in the United States.

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Click here for IrishCentral's St. Patrick's Day section

SEE VIDEOS  of the top Irish songs for St. Patrick's Day click here

A pint of plain, a glass of “Uisce Beatha” or just a place to rest your weary bones and soak up the atmosphere -- there's nothing quite like an old-fashioned Irish pub, and the older the better.

Who could ever have doubted that Ireland's favorite dinner is the St. Patrick's Day favorite bacon and cabbage.

Click here for IrishCentral's St. Patrick's Day section
 
As well as attending the parade and taking part in community fun with your children, here are some ideas to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your little ones.

Plan your outfits: Plan exactly what green outfits you're going to wear, and the crazier the better. Make hats, masks and entire outfits if need be. Go wild and have fun.

Make a green breakfast: No, we don't mean eating broccoli and kale for breakfast. How's about Lucky Charms, or porridge with fruit?  Over breakfast talk with your children about why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and who St. Patrick was.

Read some Irish stories: There are no better tales for children than the old myths and legends of Finn MacCool or Tir na nOg. Another literary favorite are the children's stories from Oscar Wilde including "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant.”

Treasure hunt: This is a great idea, especially if the weather is good. Bring the kids to the park and send them on a treasure hunt to find the leprechaun's gold. Hide gold-foil covered chocolate coins in the park and send the kids on a scavenger hunt.

Stay at home and do crafts: There are loads of ideas for St. Patrick's Day themed crafts including making shamrock potato stamps or a shamrock made out of three moss-covered paper plates. If the stamps are a success set the kids to work on decorating St. Patrick's Day cards for the family.

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Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section
 
The Irish sense of humor and wit is renowned around the world and here's our pick of the best, or maybe worst depending on how you look at it, of Irish jokes for this St. Patrick's Day. There is nothing the Irish like more than sitting around a cup of tea, or a pint, and telling stories or a good joke.

Whether you believe in superstitions or not almost everyone you know takes note when it’s Friday the 13th and is more careful crossing the road, pouring hot coffee or walking down the stairs.

For years I dreamed of finding an Irish rogue to ask for my hand in marriage and take me back to the homeland. We would settle down, somewhere in the west perhaps, build a mansion and our red-haired and freckled children would roam free in the Irish countryside. My life in the U.S. would become a distant memory as I lived out my plan of embracing my Irish heritage.

The Irish are notorious for sharp tongues.

Who more than anyone deserves a special gift? The Irish mammy, who puts up with so much from her children and always looks after their needs.

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This St. Patrick's Day remember this list when some asks "Are you Irish?"

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What famous Irish sayings really mean.

May the road rise to meet you -

My American friends always tell me how they love Ireland. But when I stayed in Chicago in the 1990s they described an Ireland I never knew existed. On a recent visit back, it seems that little has changed.

The countdown to St. Patrick's Day is on! It's time to brush up on your Irish charm and banter and get your head around these ingenious chat up lines. Pick up an Irish lad / lassie this St. Patrick's Day. 

Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section

The underwater hairdryer, the inflatable dartboard the water proof teabag; the Irish get a fairly bad rap for being slightly dopey when it comes to the technical side of things.

So you are all set for Saint Patrick’s Day, right? Good. Got your lucky green socks? Check. Leprechaun hat? check. Shamrock face stickers? check. Green bagel? Yep. Kiss me I’m Irish T-shirt? All good.

Click here for IrishCentral's St. Patrick's Day section

It is Easter and the jokers are out and about again. Here are our favorite kid’s jokes for the big day.

Apart from Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, Easter is the most important religious holiday in Ireland's calendar.

Good Friday is the one day in the year when you cannot buy a drink in Ireland.

Not convinced about what a rare wonderful breed Irish men are?

Irish women have evolved through the decades into an independent, intelligent and ambitious race. We are a force to be reckoned with.

“Listen, I'm going to slap on me runners and leg it down to the chipper!”

Nearly a century has passed since Ireland’s monumental 1916 Easter Uprising took place on the streets of Dublin. Today, the city still bears many of the scars as a result of the fighting between the Irish and British.

Few things compare to the wisdom an Irish Mammy can offer. Created by Cork comedian Colm O’Regan, @Irishmammies Twitter account offers a daily dose of tips from an Irish mother. With over 56,000 followers, it seems there are countless people out there interested in what an Irish mammy has to say.

The Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers is excited to re-launch the Bachelor of The Year 2013 Fundraiser, taking place on February 16, 2013 at Gaelic Park in the Bronx. In previous years this event has been one of the most successful and entertaining nights for the Irish community in New York and the Aisling Center hope to revive the event and strengthen the Irish connections across all boroughs.

The Internet bid ‘Cead Mile Failte’ to the newest English-Irish dictionary in over 50 years on Wednesday. Folcoir.ie is backed by Foras na Gailege, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the whole island of Ireland.

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