In the 5th century, St. Patrick arrived in Ireland to spread the gospel of Christianity. Over the long centuries since, he has become the patron saint of Ireland and — along with the harp and the shamrock — one of the enduring symbols of Irishness throughout the world. As the Irish spread to the four corners of the earth, they have brought the image of St. Patrick with them as a reminder of who they are and where they have come from.
   This image is celebrated each year on 17 March, St. Patrick's Day, when the whole world is Irish for a day. From Dublin to Sydney, from New York to Moscow, the Irish and their friends mark their heritage with music and dancing, spectacle and merrymaking. Above all, it is a day for parades, with floats, brass bands, extravagant costumes, traditional arts and smiling faces.
    Ireland alone has St. Patrick's Day parades in over 30 cities and towns throughout the country, including major parades in Cork, Galway and Limerick as well as Dublin's grand St. Patrick's Day Festival. The parades are as far-flung as the Irish themselves, but it is probably in the United States that the tradition has the oldest and most extravagant expression. George Washington, America's first president, declared himself "a lover of St. Patrick's Day". All of the country's major cities hold parades, including Chicago, where the city's river is dyed green, and Boston, that most Irish of cities, which has been holding its parade since 1802.
    But it is New York that claims the world's oldest St. Patrick's Day Parade (first held in 1762) and perhaps the most famous. When many of us think of St. Patrick's Day, we think not only of Dublin but also of Fifth Avenue and the skyscrapers of Manhattan. However, with the Moscow St. Patrick's Day now in its eighth year of celebration, the Russian capital becomes part of the international hooley, celebrating of Ireland's contribution to culture and development around the world.