"They were trying to get people to not celebrate St. Patrick's Day on the day itself." If you've actually got clergy in your part of the world discouraging people from celebrating St Patrick's Day as normal, you've got some pretty deviant clergy. Not quite heretics maybe, but tending that way...

Our parish there was a Hoolie on Saturday, advertised for weeks in the newsletter, to raise funds among other things. And Saint Patrick's Breastplate for a hymn on the Sunday. And we haven't even got Irish clergy (they are Poles).