Being Irish or not didn’t stop Skyline students from celebrating the March 17th holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day.

Local Irish pubs like Molloy’s Tavern, O’Neill’s, and Paddy Flynn’s had people in green filling every inch of floor space.

Is this a holiday known only for the excessive drinking involved? Is there any other reason to celebrate?

Saint Patrick’s Day has a very interesting history. At 16, British born Patrick was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he immersed himself in Christianity. He later became a priest and is called the savior of Ireland for converting the country to Christianity and banishing the island of snakes. He later died on March 17.

Today the holiday is celebrated by wearing green, eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking mass amounts of Irish beer. The most consumed beverage on St. Patrick’s Day is Guinness’s Irish stout.

In Ireland, wearing green is bad luck because it is the favored color of the fairies who in tales captured those dressed in the color. But as a tradition, the bars and streets of the Bay Area were covered with people wearing green.

Several Skyline students spent the night wearing green and eating and drinking at home.

“I spent the day with my family eating corned beef, cabbage and barley,” Skyline student Jeffrey Ng said.

Police set up DUI checkpoints and extra patrol officers to keep the streets safe. Many students said the excessive amount of police patrolling the streets kept them inside.

“I went to San Jose with my brother and friends, there were a lot of people on the streets and a lot of police, it kept us form getting too crazy,” Skyline student Max Reyes said.

The recession as well as fear of getting into trouble with police kept many students and patrons at home. This year wasn’t nearly as active and busy as St. Patrick’s Day last year.