These days, though, Irish Wolfhounds are just part of the panoply that springs up every year around St. Patrick’s Day. People like O’Leary, who is the treasurer of the Potomac Valley Irish Wolfhound Club and holds dual citizenship of the United States and the Republic of Ireland, like to get out on March 17 — and the weekend days that precede it — and celebrate what it means to descend from the Land of Saints and Scholars.
‘‘I’m very proud of being Irish,” says O’Leary. ‘‘It’s a national day for us Irish to brag, and maybe have a few drinks as well.”
Sounds like a plan, and the Irish Inn at Glen Echo is a favorite for this particular Wolfhound fancier.
‘‘I think,” O’Leary says, ‘‘you’ll probably find me there at some point during the day.”
Pints, parades and potatoes
When people say you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, they're not kidding. Patrick himself, or Patricius as he was known, was born a citizen of Rome in what is now Wales circa 385 A.D. His life was loaded with drama: slavery, conversion, escape and a return to the wilds of Hibernia, the ancient Roman name for the place the Celts called Eire. Because he’s a saint, venerated for his piety and his ability to convert an entire island of pantheists to Christianity, most people in Ireland celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in church. (They also spend it planting potatoes because the day of his death, March 17, just happens to be prime potato planting time.)
Here in the U.S., where upwards of 10 percent of Americans claim Irish ancestry, according to the 2000 census, March is Irish Heritage Month — and St. Patrick's Day is a day for parades and other Patrician pursuits.
‘‘There’s nothing more enjoyable for me on St. Patrick’s Day than to put on some Irish music, grab a pint of Guinness, and curl up with some Joyce, preferably ‘The Dead’ or the ‘Sirens’ episode from ‘Ulysses,’” says John Gabriello, the Montgomery Village playwright whose ‘‘Engaging Shaw” runs through April 13 in Long Branch, N.J.
He’s the first to admit that Irish music and porter may be more popular than Irish literature this time of year, but, he adds, ‘‘two out of three ain’t bad.”
There’s never really any shortage of Irish music in the area, but during, um, Irish Heritage Month, it seems to be everywhere: at Irish pubs like Flanagan's Harp and Fiddle and RiRa in Bethesda and McGinty's Public House in Silver Spring —where in addition to traditional Irish music starting at noon on Monday, they're expecting Irish dancers, teenage fiddlers and even Montgomery County fire fighters playing bagpipes.
Even the Austin Grill gets in on the act, with live Irish music all day at its Silver Spring location.
And if Morogiello’s beloved Guinness is not your thing? Grab your designated McDriver and head up to the newly opened Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard for their festivities — Celtic music, Irish soda bread, Irish cheese. Because when you think about it, St. Patrick himself was probably a drinker of wine.
Fun and games
Not that an authentic St. Patrick’s Day experience has to be anything less than healthy.
Love sports? At Flanagan’s in Bethesda, Fenian fitness freaks can come in on Monday for a pair of special St. Patrick’s Day broadcasts live from Ireland: the club hurling championships between Offaly and Galway at 10 a.m. and the Dublin vs. Cork football final — that’s Gaelic football, of course.
And if you want to actually participate in the action, head to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton on Monday. They’re not planting potatoes, but there’s with a couple of free St. Patrick’s Day walks that feature leprechauns and treasure hunts.
If you want to see the Wolfhounds, though — and the rescued greyhounds and the firetrucks and the pipe bands and the Hare Krishnas and as many eclectic marchers as you can imagine — Gaithersburg’s Washingtonian Center is the place to be on Saturday.
‘‘The Harp and Shamrock Society had the idea, and we partnered with them and the county,” says the City of Gaithersburg’s Elizabeth Poole, noting that this is the eighth annual Gaithersburg St. Patrick's day Parade. ‘‘It’s been very positive; the crowds have grown every year.”
At its height, there have been 5,000 parade goers, and Poole attributes that to the event’s family-friendly flavor — and its accessibility.
‘‘It’s a community event, so we open it up to everyone,” she says. ‘‘We try to get people who are in the St. Patrick’s day genre — pipe bands, lots of Irish dancers — and it’s only an hour long, so it’s perfect for little kids, even if the weather’s chilly.”
Big kids, too, and big dogs. Except for Rory O’Leary, who will probably spend the day beside the hearth at home, dreaming about Cuchullain and the ‘‘Sirens” episode from ‘‘Ulysses” and rooting for Galway in the hurling final.
If you go
The Gaithersburg St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturdayat the Washingtonian Center, I-370 andWashingtonian Boulevard, Gaithersburg.
The St. Patrick’s Day Walk beginsat 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday atBrookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton. Admission is free, but pre-registration is preferred. Call 301-962-1400 or visit www.brooksidegardens.org.
Irish music
Austin Grill, 919 Ellsworth Drive,Silver Spring. 240-247-8969.
Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle, 4844 Cordell Ave., Bethesda.301-951-0115.
Ri-Ra Irish Restaurant & Pub, 4931 Elm St., Bethesda. 301-657-1122.
McGinty’s Public House, 911 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring. 301-587-1270.
Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, 18125 Comus Road, Dickerson. Festivities Friday, Saturday and Sunday,11 a.m. - 5 p.m., $4 for wine tasting.301-605-0130.
