St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland usually starts with families attending church services and a parade.

Aside from that, Irish exchange students at Kansas University say many of the rowdy stereotypes about their homeland are true.

“The rest of the day is spent drinking,” said Christian Kerrigan, a junior who grew up in Dublin. “I spend much of my time in the pub, wetting the old palate with Guinness.”

But Kerrigan said St. Patrick’s Day, a national holiday in Ireland, was more family-oriented there than in the United States. Everyone wears a shamrock on his shirt for Catholic Mass, which is usually followed by a small community parade and a big family meal.

In the afternoon, the parties begin. Kerrigan said Guinness — the renowned Irish stout — tastes better in his homeland.

“It’s not as smooth (in the United States),” he said. “It seems to be a little bit watered down and has a bite after you drink it. It doesn’t seem to travel very well.”

Tiernan O’Rourke, a junior at KU who grew up in the southeast county of Wexford, says Irish children learn about the history and folklore of St. Patrick, who was born in 385 in Wales, became a bishop in Ireland and established monasteries throughout the country.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t drive the snakes from Ireland. There are no snake species native to the island.

The Irish students wanted to dispel a few rumors about St. Patrick’s Day:

l Leprechauns aren’t real. Kerrigan has been asked.

“It comes from the old tale of the leprechaun guarding the pot of luck at the end of the rainbow,” he said. “It’s just a joke, really. It is used for advertising. It’s some sort of a symbol.”

l The Irish probably aren’t luckier than their counterparts in the rest of the world.

“I think that’s an old wife’s tale,” O’Rourke said. ‘I don’t think that’s very true at all. In Ireland, no one takes it seriously. If some Irish sports team has a big win, they pull that one out.”

O’Rourke said he was surprised at how many people in the United States celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

“Everyone here likes to pretend they’re Irish for the day,” he said. “I would say it’s a compliment. Maybe it’s like putting Irish people on a pedestal we don’t deserve to be on. It’s quite flattering.”

Kerrigan agreed. He noted that the majority of people who consider themselves Irish live outside Ireland, and there have been Irish pubs in nearly every city he’s traveled to in the United States and Europe.

“A lot of Americans I meet here say they’ve got relatives that are 50 percent Irish or 25 percent Irish,” he said. “There seems to be some connection there. Everybody seems to like what the Irish do. They just seem to drink a lot. It makes me feel quite good about my country and where I come from.”

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