I doubt that there's much the British can teach Americans about celebrating St Patrick's day in style, so I will content myself with detailing the origins of the day and the customs as carried out here for readers from the rest of the world!

THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
There is considerable variation in dates given by various sources, so I have used the most common ones; one source gives dates that would mean St. Patrick lived to be 106!!

Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and also of Nigeria. He was born probably in Scotland (traditionally at Kilpatrick near Dumbarton) in 387 AD as Maewyn Succat and was of Romano-British origin, the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest (celibacy was not a requirement in those days) so he had a religious upbringing although, in later years, he admitted to paying little heed to religion at the time.

When he was about sixteen years old he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery in then-pagan Ireland and spent six years in captivity, working as a shepherd for a Miliucc, a chieftain who was also a Druid priest. He learnt the Celtic language and customs, which was to prove very useful in later years.

He had a vision, or a dream, in which an angel told him he must escape and return home, so he ran away and managed to persuade a ship sailing east to take him, and he eventually made his way home.

He was unsettled, however, and decided that he must study and so travelled to Gaul, where he entered a monastery and was ordained a priest: it was then that he took the name Patricius. During that time he had many visions, always calling him to return to Ireland. His dream was finally realised when Pope Celestine I sent him to Ireland as a missionary, and in the summer of 430 AD Patrick and his companions landed on the Irish shore. They met with some opposition from the Druids, but they continued to preach around the country and many miracles were attributed to Patrick. On Easter Sunday, March 26th 433, Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the concept of the Holy Trinity - three leaves, yet still one leaf - and Ireland's national symbol was born.

Patrick and his companions travelled around Ireland, preaching and converting as they went. It did not always go according to plan - St. Patrick himself recorded in his Confessio that they were seized as captives twelve times, and on one occasion sentenced to death - but each time they were released and went on their way. He died on March 17th 464 at age of 77 - a remarkable age for those times - and was buried just outside Saul, where the cathedral of Down now stands.

TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and they all went into the sea and drowned. The snake was a revered pagan symbol, and perhaps this is a metaphor for the fact that he drove paganism out of Ireland. Whatever the truth of the matter, there are to this day no venemous snakes in Ireland.

The wearing of the Green : green is the colour associated with St. Patrick; leprechauns wear green....shamrocks are green..... IRELAND is green, on account of all that rain.....

Leprechauns are Irish fairies. They look like small, old men (about 2 feet tall), often dressed like a shoemaker,with a cocked hat and a leather apron. According to legend, leprechauns are unpleasant little characters, aloof and unfriendly, who live alone and pass the time making shoes. They also possess a hidden pot of gold, and treasure hunters can often track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker's hammer. If caught, he can be forced (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure, but the captor must keep their eyes on him every second. If the captor's eyes leave the leprechaun (and he often tricks them into looking away), he vanishes and all hopes of finding the treasure are lost forever.

Banshees are female spirits who prophesy a death : if you hear the wailing of the Banshee (they are never seen) beware - they could well be looking for YOU! (But of course we would then have an excuse for a good old, Irish-style wake - a wonderful send off and celebration of the life of the dear departed!)

The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of "the Blarney" - the ability to talk persuasively and eloquently.
Blarney castle was built in 1446 by Cormac Laidhiv McCarthy (Lord of Muskerry) and its walls are 18 feet thick (necessary to thwart attacks by Cromwellians and William III's troops). Thousands of tourists a year still visit the castle.

The origins of the Blarney Stone's magical properties aren't clear, but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly.

The Blarney Stone is very difficult to reach: it lies between the main castle wall and the parapet. If you want to kiss the Blarney Stone - and thousands of tourists do - you have to lie on your back and bend backwards (and downwards), holding onto iron bars for support. Whether all the germs have anything to do with it is not known, but it's said of anyone who can "talk the hind leg off a donkey" that they must have kissed the Blarney Stone!