I know what it looks like, and you might be right

Honest answer?

Exactly how it looks like in America. 

Seriously. Parades, activities, events, marching bands, floats, the massive amounts of alcohol consumption, the whole shebang. 

We actually copied you. 

New York has been having St Patrick’s Day parades for over two-hundred and fifty years, meanwhile our first parade was in 1903. 

Before that, it was a Catholic feast day. You might get the day off, you went to Mass, and Lent was suspended for the day in celebration, which is where the drinking comes in. 

(Though the sale of alcohol on St Patrick’s was banned from 1927 to 1961.)

Basically, it seems to have started being a “thing” as a rallying point for the Irish Diaspora, a way to celebrate their heritage and ancestral homeland. It came over here at the turn of the 20th century to instead serve to promote Irish nationalism, as appetite for independence from the UK was growing at that stage, and it helped fuel it. 

After we achieved independence, it took the Irish Government a decade to actually start organizing St Patrick’s Day parades and activities. Since the 1990s, our Government has been using it as an opportunity to promote Ireland abroad, as the modernization of our economy relies heavily on multinational corporations investing in Ireland. 

Honestly, we use it as a celebration of Ireland nowadays because we don’t have an Independence Day. Because “when did Ireland gained independence” has four arguably legitimate answers, so it’s easier to go with St Patrick’s. 

I’d say the biggest difference between Ireland and America is that we hold events over a five day “St Patrick’s Festival”, we get the day off, and we also promote the use of the Irish Language. 

A festival of the Irish language runs events across the country in the leadup to St Patrick’s, called “Seachtain na Gaeilge”, or “Week of Irish”. 

It runs from March 1st to March 17th.

French POW Bone ship model, early 19th century

Take away the regulations and companies would sell these things at greatly reduced prices or donate them to shelters/food banks where they can be distributed. The profit motive actually works here - donating gives them good PR for almost no cost.