By TRAVINA COLEMAN
Press Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH —
The luck of the Irish didn’t hold out for one St. Patty’s Day enthusiast last year, but this year, he’s ready to roll.
Tony Boyle, of Tahlequah, dons green knickers and a green blazer, complete with his top hat, on St. Patrick’s Day. He’s been dressing up for about 16 years.
“You know, more than 80 percent of the population claims Irish heritage,” he said. “So it’s a fun day to celebrate; why not?”
Boyle fell out of a tree on Valentine’s Day last year and couldn’t get around well enough to celebrate the pinching day the way he likes to.
“Yeah, I couldn’t move around much,” he said.
Most St. Patrick’s days, Boyle can be found standing outside in front of his shop, BS&G Pawn, giving away candy and green beads.
“I have leprechauns and shamrocks on the sides of the building,” he said. “I love it.”
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, the religious feast day and the anniversary of the saint’s death in the fifth century. The Irish people have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years.
On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived, and people would dance, drink and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage, according to the www.history.com.
Irish-Americans celebrate the day, too, with festivals, parades and wearing the color green.
Boyle, like others involved in the festivities, plans to eat corned beef and cabbage.
“I put corned beef on this morning,” he said.
And as far as his regular celebrations, Boyle said the holiday is meant to be a fun one.
“I get out here in front of the shop and make a fool out of myself,” he said. “I give out green beads, yo-yos and candy, things like that.”
He sometimes visits local schools and nursing homes, too.
“One story I like to tell is about the time I took green whistles to the kids at Lowery School,” he said. “The teachers got mad at me, I think, but later that night at Reasor’s, I had a mom come up to me asking me, if I had another whistle she could buy. I told her I had one she could have, and she told me her youngest child, who was not old enough for school yet, wouldn’t stop crying for one since the sister came home with one.”
Another local resident spends his version of a traditional Irish holiday at a favorite watering hole.
Michael Roache, 22, of Tahlequah, plans to green beer at a local bar.
“It’s going to be great,” he said. “Live music, green beer and friends, that’s all you need.”
But in Ireland before the 1970s, pubs and other businesses were closed to due Irish law, according to history.com.
Beginning in 1995, the Irish government began to use the holiday as a push for local tourism, showcasing Ireland to the rest of the world, according to the History Channel website. This is when Dublin held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.
And then there are other residents whose celebration won’t go much further than something green on their clothes or in their hair.
“I always try to wear green,” said Amy Wallace of Tahlequah. “I don’t want my kids pinching me.”
Boyle said he would like to see Tahlequah have a parade to celebrate the day.
“It would be neat,” he said.
He’s asked the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce to consider hosting a Find A Leprechaun Day, like the one held in Fort Smith.
“It would be fun to hide plastic leprechauns,” he said. “It would bring out a lot of people. I didn’t hear about it until just a couple of weeks ago, but it would be fun for next year.”
