They mostly wore green at McMorrissey's Irish Pub and Eatery but the real St Paddy wore blue.
With about 60 happy punters drinking the famous black brew and singing along to Irish folk tunes, we also chose not to remind them that St Patrick was Welsh, English or maybe Scottish. After being kidnapped as a boy around 400AD, he lived in Ireland as a slave until he was a young man with a calling to God and a healthy disregard of the law.
As for ridding the Emerald Isles of snakes ... well, were there ever any snakes there?
Who cares? St Patrick's day at Whangarei's Irish bar went off a treat yesterday in good old Kiwi style, following St Practice day on Saturday.
Families were a feature of the fun, with toddlers and teenagers joining the older patrons there to toast the patron saint of Ireland. Music with a decidedly traditional bent, kicked off sharp at 4pm with Anam Cara, saw several bands take to the stage, and kept everyone entertained as much as did the Oirish accents, real or otherwise.