Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Yes, I know I’m a day early on that, but with tomorrow looking to be rather busy, I figured I’d post something while I had the chance.

You're probably familiar with all the big St. Patrick's Day celebrations; New York, Chicago, Savannah and of course the countless ones in Ireland itself.

One you probably haven’t heard much about is the one on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, which is probably the most unlikely place you will ever find a large St. Patrick’s Day Festival. The island, tucked down near Antigua, is a small one and only has about 4,000 residents. It used to have a much larger population, around 10,000, but a volcano erupted on the island in 1997 and nearly wiped it off the map.

Montserrat’s celebration is so important to the island that, outside of Ireland, it is the only country where St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday.

The celebration dates back to 1768 and, surprisingly, has little to do with the Irish. Back in those days, there were three classes on the island. At the top were the British, in the middle were the Irish and at the bottom were the slaves the British had brought over from Africa. The Irish outnumbered everyone else on the island put together, so while they didn’t enjoy equal standing with the British, St. Patrick’s Day was still celebrated.

By 1768, the slaves had had enough of being slaves and wanted to live as free men. The idea for a rebellion was born and it was decided that on March 17th, when the rest of the island was celebrating, they would attack.

Unfortunately though, the plan never came about. As with most rebellions, an alcohol-induced slip of the tongue proved disastrous and the nine people in charge of the uprising were caught and soon after were publicly executed.

Today the celebration is more about remembering the rebellion than it is about celebrating the nation’s Irish heritage. It seems kind of odd to me to celebrate a failed rebellion, but I guess when a volcano has destroyed half of your island, you deserve a little slack.

So, when you’re out there tomorrow drinking green beer and walking around with thumb and index finger ready for anyone not wearing green, stop for a second, face to the south, and raise your glass to the folks on Montserrat. They deserve it.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone.