By the Civil War, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a Catholic group, had assumed control of a parade whose ranks now swelled with famine-fleeing immigrants. Since 1993, when a new slate of leaders was elected, they determined to rein in the parade and preserve it as an essentially Catholic event. They decided to do away with the election of the grand marshal, saying that it had devolved into an unseemly process in which candidates waged advertising campaigns in the Irish newspapers. Many followers have adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on St. Patrick's feast day. Traditionally, St. Patrick's Day is observed as a religious holiday, which falls during the Christian season of Lent.
Families attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon.
Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat are waved and people dance, drink and feast, most often on a traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. Answers to the final question will vary.