Philadelphians Celebrate All Things Irish on St. Patrick's Day
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- From observances at memorials honoring Irish immigrants to a pint a local pub, thousands across the Delaware Valley were marking St. Patrick's Day today.
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Things got off to leaping start with traditional Irish dancing, music, and poetry at the 16th annual Irish breakfast hosted by Common Pleas Court judge Jimmie Lynn, at Plough and The Stars, in Old City (photo below).
"We are the most diversity-conscious group on Earth," Lynn noted.
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Many were celebrating Irish heritage with a pint of Guinness -- or two.
"Oh, I took off work today. Yes I did," he admitted.
Sister James Ann Feerick, a nun at Immaculate Heart of Mary, performed an Irish jig for the crowd. She then joined about a hundred others at the nearby Irish Memorial, honoring immigrants from the Emerald Isle.
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"We have to thank God for all the blessings he has given to us, to our culture, to our country of Ireland," she said, "and to us for being citizens here in the United States. But we brought our culture with us, and it's been accepted, and we have been able to share it here."