Kiss me, I'm Irish

Every year on March 17, Americans celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. This year is no exception.

St. Patrick's Day commemorates the death of the Catholic priest credited with expelling snakes from the island nation. The real story of the man behind the legend is actually quite different.

According to the History Channel Web site, www.history.com, the real Patrick was captured by Irish raiders from his home in Britain and spent six years in captivity. During this time, he worked as a shepard and became extremely devout in his faith . He dreamt of converting the Irish to Catholicism. He then walked more than 200 miles and escaped back to Britain, but later returned to Ireland as a missionary.

Festivals across the country are known for their green celebrations, like dying the Chicago River an emerald hue and the hosting of parades honoring local Irish communities.

Here in El Paso, one restaurant has made a tradition of St. Patrick's Day for many years. Bennigan's Grill and Tavern, 10497 Gateway Blvd. West, has turned their Irish-themed eatery into a party spot to celebrate the luck of the Irish. Bennigan's has celebrated St. Paddy's Day with green beer and entertainment for the past 20 years.

This year promises to be bigger than ever. Michael Zapata, coordinator at Bennigan's, said he is expecting about 10,000 people at the restaurant.

Bennigan's will also provide entertainment, with nine different bands and disk jockeys from Power 102 FM taking part.

Everclear will headline the evening's performances. They will be on stage at 1 a.m.

Zapata said Bennigan's hire extra security guards for the night.

"Security really helps to make it feel like it should," Zapata said. "It is always a really good turn out and everyone has lots of fun."

Other bars are getting in on the St. Pat festivities as well. At the O2 Lounge, 2700 N. Mesa St., fiddler Patti Jones will perform from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Chris Terry, manager of O2, said they are also asking for a $20 donation to be given to El Paso Counts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising voting awareness.

"There's always the green beer thing," Terry said. "We wanted something a little different, a little nicer."

Students are also excited to celebrate four-leaf clover festivities. Christina Rayas, senior mechanical engineering major, said she plans to wear green and go out on Monday night.

"You have to wear green so they don't pinch you," Rayas said. "I'll get a group of friends to go out with me to Cincinnati. "

Eric Anchondo, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said he is more eager to participate in the Texas College of Mines initiation ceremony that many engineering majors take part in on the same day.

"It's my first time doing it," Anchondo said. "I'm really excited."

Other bars participating in St. Patrick's Day celebrations will be the Dome bar, which will have various drink specials throughout the night and the customary green beer.

Another bar serving green beer will be Cincinnati Bar, 207 Cincinnati Ave. Tommy, a bartender at the Cincinnati Bar, said they will order two to three kegs of already colored beer from their local Budweiser distributor.

"It gets pretty filled that day," he said. "Everybody who is here usually has a really good time."

Victor Santana-Melgoza may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.