Celebrations took place at care homes as residents marked the worldwide festive phenomenon of the annual feast day devoted to Ireland’s foremost patron saint, Patrick.
Colten Care homes in Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex were among those to honour Celtic culture with storytelling, poetry, fiddle playing, quizzes, dressing up and traditional Irish dancing.
Members of the Irish diaspora joined fellow residents for a green-themed day of fun, laughter, music and song.
At Fernhill, Colten Care’s dedicated dementia care home at Longham near Bournemouth, Kiki Tormey said: “I had a lovely time. The music reminded me of old times.”
Roger Bryan, who also lives at Fernhill, agreed, adding: “I had a great time, the music was divine.”
At The Aldbury, a Poole dementia care home, staff and residents sold green cupcakes to raise money for their charity of the year, Friends of the Dolphin.
And enjoying a glass of Irish stout as he listened to limericks read out by Terry Pattison, fellow resident David Gale said: “We should celebrate St Patrick’s Day every day.”
Games were a key focus at Canford Chase in Poole, with gentle rivalry lighting up participation in pursuits such as Lucky Shamrock, Gold Horse Toss and Leprechaun Leap.
At St Catherines View, Colten Care’s dedicated dementia care home in Winchester, residents danced and sang along to Irish fiddle tunes played live by musician and Companion Amber Stonehouse.
A community get-together at Wellington Grange in Chichester saw former residents, families and friends return to help with the festivities.
And at Amberwood House in Ferndown, the celebrations featured a quiz about Irish culture, history and traditions.
It highlighted the fact that St Patrick is Ireland’s most famous saint but not the only one. St Brigid and St Columba are also patron saints but Patrick, a fifth-century missionary born in Roman Britain, kidnapped and taken to Gaelic Ireland as a slave, is the most celebrated.
One of the legends about him is that he used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity and convert thousands of Irish pagans to Christianity.
