GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A year after St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were cut short by an order to close early due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were back to celebrating with green, beer, and green beer.
Things were shamrockin’ at St. Brendan’s Inn in Green Bay Wednesday morning. The day began with bagpipes and the blessing of the shamrock.
“Let the spirit of joy and celebration touch every fiber of each of us. That this day of grace may be filled with the presence of God and love for our neighbor as we both pray and party. Both of which Jesus did often.”
“It’s really nice to be a part of that. A lot of the churches, the church that I go to, is shut down. So it’s nice to have that opportunity,” said Alli. “We came for the bagpipes and a Bloody [Mary], and we’ll head out.”
While two indoor musical performances were held later in the day, Jim Cuny was excited to kick things off with his bagpipes. WTAQ News spoke with him briefly as he ordered a Guinness, just after 10:00 in the morning.
“Kilts and bagpipes! That’s the way to go if you’re going to come out!” Cuny said. “It’s nice to be out and do something to put smiles on peoples faces…Playing them in front of people is always fun! There’s always a little nerves because I don’t do it every day. I’m not a professional musician, but it’s fun to do it for people because they appreciate it.”
But not everyone was there for the faith and unique squeal of the bagpipes. Paulie Gagan was posted up at the far end of the bar, wearing a kilt and sporting Celtic-style tattoos, just like he has every St. Patrick’s Day for the past twelve years.
Paulie Gagan celebrates his Irish heritage at Saint Brendan’s Inn in Green Bay on St. Patrick’s Day, 2021. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
“Being Irish, this is something that is very, very important to my family. It’s just something that we’ve always done, so it’s very nice to get back to that and spend time with old friends and new,” Gagan said. “You meet a lot of people that are – they just want to get back to the normal. [There are] a lot of people that enjoy celebrating to whatever extent that they do, it’s an enjoyable thing and we love it.”
Over another fresh pint of Guinness, Gagan recalled being in that spot as the pub was shut down early last year due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were here last year when we were shut down at five o’clock. It was a sad thing to happen, because you have a lot of family down here,” Gagan said. “It really, honest to God does [feel good] to get back to something…Just sitting down with friends and family and being able to get back to somewhat normal conditions…Celebrating the little things getting a little bit better. Hopefully people are doing well.”
Gagan is one of the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites to recover from COVID-19, and says it’s likely most other people in the room were either in the same boat – or have had at least their first dose of the vaccine. Either way, he was still observing some precautions.
“We’re doing the social distancing, I’ve got a friend that’s going to be coming down in a little bit and we’ll make sure she’s stuck over here all by herself. We try to be careful, but at the same time it’s it’s good to just be out,” Gagan said.
As for the inn itself, things were definitely a bit different than usual.
“We shut down mid-day, five o’clock on Saint Patrick’s Day. I get why they did it…No matter how you feel, it’s been a while since people could go out. I’ve talked to multiple people that have not been here for 6 months, 9 months, 12 months – and today marks the anniversary,” said bar manager Stephen Robertson. “I think we’re prepared? We should be good. We are excited to have everyone in here.”
There was an indoor capacity of 150 people and no outdoor activities this year. Typically, they’ll have a tent covering most of the parking lot to fit more people and bring in bigger bands. But even with the limitations, there was optimism.
“Over the last maybe two months, you can see a slow ramp up back to whatever normal is going to be. So that’s encouraging, kind of a light at the end of the tunnel,” Robertson said.
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