Irish for a Day: Saint Patrick's Day Celebrations in Québec City, 1765-1990

Terry A. Crowley is an associate professor of history at the University
of Guelph.

Anglophones in Quebec City now constitute less than 3 percent of the
population, but for more than two centuries its Irish residents have
staged celebrations on March 17 in honor of St. Patrick. Originally a
national affair among expatriates wanting to recall their homeland with
nostalgia, festivities narrowed early in the nineteenth century to
include primarily Catholics because religious antipathies deepened.

In this competent but generally dull recounting of past events, Laval
University anthropologist Nancy Schmitz explores the particular twists
and turns of the parades, religious services, dances, and entertainments
(including theatricals) in Quebec City and surrounding towns and
villages. Her original research in neglected primary sources emphasizes
the important financial contributions that these events made to charity,
but only in the last chapter does she analyze the significance of what
she describes at length.

This book will engage primarily those interested in ethno-cultural
communities and local history.