Mouth of the River

Every St. Patrick’s Day of my life has started off the same—with green pancakes and an obligatory McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.  

For many of the students at Oyster River High School (ORHS), including me, mid-March brings back a blast of nostalgia in one lucky color: green. Celebrated by many families in the Oyster River Cooperative School District (ORCSD) community, St. Patrick’s Day is typically full of mischief and tricks for kids. But compared to other holidays, this one may get overlooked as us kids grow into teenagers. To bring back some of that childhood wonder for the incoming celebrations, here is how the students of ORHS remember their childhood St. Patrick’s Days. 

Kate Sheehan (‘27): 

Sheehan should be considered St. Patrick’s Day royalty. Sheehan’s Irish-descending grandparents founded the annual Manchester St. Patrick’s Day parade, and she grew up participating in the parade festivities. “Me, my family and my cousins would be in downtown Manchester at a bar with bagpipes… and then we would go on the street and watch our grandparents drive by,” said Sheehan. Her grandparents had the honor of being driven through the hordes of paradegoers due to their positions in the parade. 

Her grandfather was crowned Grand Marshal of the parade since the time of its commencement until his passing, when the title was passed to another Irishman. Sheehan fondly remembers watching her grandfather pass by in the car. “He was always the leader of the parade in a car, and it was literally like if you were there to watch a president drive by.” 

Ashling Ferris (‘28): 

For Ferris, St. Patrick’s Day is more than your run of the mill holiday. Coming from an Irish family, Ferris is accustomed to a green-centric day. Waking up to a house filled with green streamers and glitter, she remembers running downstairs to check her leprechaun trap. Always disappointed with the contents of her trap, Ferris said, “Obviously I never caught the damn thing, but there were always gold coins left for me.” Like Santa or the Easter bunny, Ferris and her two older sisters were firm believers of the leprechaun. 

Another noteworthy part of Ferris’s childhood St. Patrick’s Day was the food. As was typical with her “extremely Irish family,” dinner on St. Patrick’s Day contained colcannon (a mixture of shredded cabbage and mashed potatoes) and Irish stew. Ferris took pride in her family’s extra celebrating and recalls having a lunchroom reputation in the days following St. Patty’s, “I was known for being the girl with green mac and cheese at my elementary school,” she said. Although she no longer hopes to catch the leprechaun on the Irish holiday, Ferris still loves St. Patrick’s Day for how her family celebrates it and the nostalgia that comes with it. 

Lila Nield (‘27): 

Nield typically had a very active St. Patrick’s Day as a kid. From ages 6-13, Nield and her twin sister were competitive Irish dancers. This meant that every St. Patrick’s Day came with hours of preparation leading up to an Irish step dance performance that afternoon. “A lot of pubs and restaurants would have our dance school come perform for them,” said Nield. She recalls that her dance teachers would give candy to the student wearing the most green and she always tried her hardest to win. But even after returning from her performance, Nield remembers her family going all out for the holiday.  

Aside from the dancing, Nield’s St. Patrick’s Day was always made special by her grandmother. When they were younger, Nield and her siblings would make their traps each year, hoping to catch the elusive leprechaun. But little did they know their grandmother had a unique way of convincing them he had paid the Nield family a visit. “He left his hat one year and his shirt another, but we eventually found out my grandma sewed them for us,” said Nield. 

Kylie Fagan (‘28): 

“Every year [my parents] would dye the water of all our toilets green, and they would dye all our milk green too,” said Fagan. She remembers her childhood St. Patrick’s Day as mischief-filled, made possible by green dye and chocolate coins. As pictured below in a 2014 Facebook post by her mother, Fagan often woke up to see that all the toilets in her house had been vandalized by the leprechaun, identifiable by the small footprints that framed the bowl.  

Speaking of footprints, Fagan had a tradition of visiting her neighbors’ houses on March 17^th, and most notably remembers one house with the “craziest” leprechaun. “One of our neighbors, their mom would put green footprints on their ceilings,” she said. And even though the ceiling footprints in her neighbor’s house were thrilling for Fagan as a child, Fagan’s favorite St. Patrick’s Day memories involved chocolate coins.  “Our parents would hide the chocolate coins all around the house, and it was always the best to wake up and go look for them,” explained Fagan.  

St. Patrick’s Day can be special for everyone, whether you spend it with an Irish family who goes all out for the holiday or simply enjoy receiving some chocolate gold coins. But no matter how you spend it, take a moment to remember your best leprechaun trap, the craziest prank your parents pulled on you, or your favorite family memory on this year’s St. Patrick’s Day.  

– Kristina Jakobs

Photos courtesy of sources