An Irish family was shocked to see extravagant North American celebrations on St. Patrick’s Day when it immigrated to Canada nine years ago.
Anne Everett and her family settled in Okotoks in 2009, when her husband, Anthony, was forced to find work outside of Ireland during a crippling recession. Work as a stonemason and bricklayer had dried up at home.
He was offered employment in Calgary and the couple chose to land in Okotoks with their then 12 and six-year-old daughters.
“We connected with some other Irish people who were in Okotoks and they recommended it,” said Everett. “So we came here because we had somewhere to stay initially, and now we just stay because we like it so much.”
Having immigrated from a small village with fewer than one dozen homes in Ireland, they found the small-town feel of Okotoks more appealing than Calgary.
Nine years later, they’ve found themselves in another recession that has reduced Anthony’s ability to work, and the family will be relocating to Toronto this spring.
“We’ve really enjoyed Okotoks, the schools and the small-town feel,” said Everett. “I don’t know what I’m going to do in Toronto.”
One bonus about moving to the east – it’s one step closer to home, she said.
The entire family misses Ireland – in fact, their eldest daughter will be attending university back home with her old school friends.
It’s not uncommon for Irish immigrants to yearn for home, she said.
“A lot of families came around the time the recession was really bad in Ireland, and they’re very thankful to Canada and really accepted Canadian ways,” said Everett. “But if you scratch the surface, mot of them would like to go home.”
There are things they miss, like rolling hills – and the food.
From traditional Irish stew to potatoes unlike the ones found anywhere else in the world, home-baked goods and fresh breads to bacon and cabbage, there’s something unique about Irish fare, she said.
Especially the Tayto sandwich. Taytos are an Irish cheese and onion potato chip (or crisp).
“Most Irish people would tell you if they were to get anything from home it would be a bag of Tayto,” said Everett. “They taste like nobody else’s cheese and onion crisps. And we make a sandwich out of it, so we have bread, butter and Tayto. It’s very unique to Ireland.”
It’s these comforts of home that are missed as St. Patrick’s Day approaches. Though it’s celebrated in Canada, the holiday just isn’t the same as it is in Ireland, she said.
“We were really shocked when we came here,” said Everett. “It’s a religious holiday at home, it’s the Feast of St. Patrick. So usually everyone would attend mass, and then there’s always a little parade after mass with the kids.”
Here in Canada, her family tries to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by wearing green and hosting or going out to dinner with family and friends.
Everett said she was blown away by the amount of green they saw on March 17 when they first came to Okotoks. It was more blatant than what most Irish people tend to don, she said.
“When I was growing up you’d always wear a shamrock, a real shamrock, because it would always grow in the garden or along the road,” she said. “And you’d wear that, and you might put green ribbons in the kids’ hair. But the amount of green people wear here, people of all ethnicities. At first it was like, ‘What’s going on here?’”
She said it was nice to see the culture embraced by Canadians, but there’s one thing – people need to stop shortening it to “St. Patty’s Day.”
“We absolutely hate that with a vengeance,” said Everett. “If you’re going to not call it St. Patrick’s Day, it’s St. Paddy’s Day with a ‘d.’ Anyone called Patrick in Ireland is called Paddy, not Patty. Patty is a girl’s name and we absolutely hate it.
“The reason being is that Patrick in Irish is Padraig, so it’s a “d,” so we say Paddy not Patty.”
A large part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations is watching sports. This year, Ireland is playing rugby against England, and if Everett’s home country wins they take the Grand Slam title.
“That’s going to be huge,” she said. “It will probably be shown in a lot of the Irish bars around Calgary.”
Though she enjoys many sports, Everett’s favourite sport is the national game of Ireland – hurling. Hurling is an ancient game of Gaelic and Irish origin that has been played for 3,000 years, involving players hitting a small ball with a stick to score on their opponents (for more information go to www.gaa.ie).
“It’s the fastest field sport, the second fastest sport in the world after hockey, and hockey is only faster because it’s on ice,” said Everett.
Aside from food and a love of sports, she said Irish people often live up to the stereotypes of their culture.
Although North America has glorified the leprechaun and shamrock, they do have their roots in Ireland, she said.
“We like to talk, we like to sing,” said Everett. “We like to have fun, we like to socialize with people. Not all of us drink.
“I think we like to be nice to people and be liked. The usual things you kind of hear about.”
