The men dressed in Irish kilts danced as they paraded down the main road. Everyone donned green, from babies in strollers to seniors watching from their porches. Shamrocks were everywhere, from the street decorations to the passport stamp.
Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day, but this was not Ireland.
Only two places in the world observe the feast of the patron saint as a national holiday: the Emerald Isle itself and the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat.
Montserrat treats St. Patrick’s Day as both a celebration and a more somber milestone: a reminder of a failed slave rebellion on March 17, 1768. The uprising was stopped before it even began and was reported to the British, leading to the execution of nine people and imprisonment of about 30 more.
“I would not say celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, but more so commemorating the attempt for freedom,” said Crenston Buffonge, 51, who serves as Montserrat’s parliamentary secretary overseeing culture, tourism and diaspora affairs. He said he wears green but prefers to do so in a more traditional African madras cloth that also has orange and white.
Irish settlers first began arriving in Montserrat in the 1600s, including Irish Catholics who came as indentured servants. Through the centuries, Irish and African cultures mixed, which led to a St. Patrick’s Day tradition that became a national holiday in 1985.
Today, Montserrat is often referred to as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean because of its green and rocky terrain and historical connection to Ireland. Villages here bear names like St. Patrick’s, Kinsale and Cork Hill, and people have last names like Reilly, Sweeney and Meade.
While technically a British territory, Montserrat is very Caribbean. The residents often describe themselves as Montserratians of African descent. The island is quiet and largely rural, with small villages scattered on the west side.
On early Tuesday morning, dozens of people, many dressed in traditional African garb, stood along the island’s main bay to honor the Africans who died en route to the Americas as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
It was a solemn moment in which a handful of people waded into the shallow waters to place red heliconia, the island’s national flower, into the sea and let them slowly float away. The ceremony was followed by prayers and music.
Afterward, the attendees shared the traditional foods of their ancestors — ginger beer, salted codfish, a sweet potato and coconut dumpling called duckna, sugar cake and more.
“Even though we’re not shackled, like our ancestors were shackled, there are times when you feel that way,” said Veronica Dorsette-Hector, the acting premier of Montserrat. While she is the head of government, the island is still overseen by a British governor appointed by King Charles III.
“You don’t have your own money,” she continued. “You don’t have your economic independence. We have a constitution that allows us to make our own laws, but if the governor does not assent to the bill that we passed in Parliament, it’s still not ours.”
On Montserrat, St. Patrick’s Day is also an opportunity to simply have a good time, Caribbean style. It is the culmination of 10 days of merriment — including the so-called Insomnia Weekend, when the party extends into the early morning.
People on Tuesday tossed what they called leprechaun dust at each other while drinking and dancing to Calypso music, a popular Afro-Caribbean genre, during the traditional predawn celebrations that are typical of Caribbean Carnivals. Here, they come with an Irish twist, including green powder.
The festivities are the biggest driver of tourism every year, said Rosetta West-Gerald, the chief executive of the Montserrat Tourism Authority. Of the nearly 15,000 people who visit the island annually, as many as 3,000 come for this holiday, she said.
The St. Patrick’s Day parade along the main street of Salem village was the biggest event, ending with a food and music festival that serves goat water, a hearty stew that is Montserrat’s national dish.
The parade was led by nearly 30 masquerade dancers, dressed in brightly colored outfits, bishop-style hats and masks that were a mix of European and African influences. A troupe leader, dressed in green and holding a whip meant to symbolize a slave master, danced as he led the group past the crowds.
The main street was lined with people — all wearing at least one item of green clothing — hanging out on porches, in their yards and at bars. A flatbed truck carried enormous speakers and a D.J. Small marching bands followed behind, playing their own tunes.
Darian James, 44, who works in the hotel industry in Los Angeles, left Montserrat after the 1995 eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano. The blast that buried the capital city, Plymouth, left two-thirds of the island uninhabitable and forced the mass exodus of more than 9,000 people. Today, only about 4,500 remain on the island.
Mr. James didn’t return to Montserrat until 2018, when he and others from his displaced hometown reunited on the island. He has since come back every year to participate in a dance troupe during the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“Wherever we all migrated to, we don’t have the same celebration,” he said. “So this gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of origin and of meaning, to come back to who we are.”
For Genny Browne Turay, this St. Patrick’s Day was her first time visiting the homeland of her father, who died in 2024.
Ms. Browne Turay, 33, came from London to experience one of Montserrat’s most important celebrations and to spread her father’s ashes across the island, including in his hometown.
“I couldn’t miss seeing this,” she said, decked out in green as she watched the parade. “It’s one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations outside of Ireland and New York, but what is so fascinating about is it has nothing to do with St. Patrick at all.”
Next year, she said, she planned to return.
James Wagner covers news and culture in Latin America for The Times. He is based in Mexico City.
The post The Tropical St. Patrick’s Day That Honors African History appeared first on New York Times.
