ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- St. Patrick's Day is just two days away. Irish pubs all across the world have been getting prepared.
But for one Irish family -- they say Ireland isn't the place to be to celebrate their favorite holiday.
"Back home it's quite different. We go to the pub quietly, drink our pints quietly and then go home," said Paul Nolan, of Waterford, Ireland.
The first time Nolan set foot in America for St. Patrick's Day, he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. In Ireland, he says the day was traditionally a religious holiday.
"Up until 1961 all of the pubs in Ireland were actually closed on St. Patrick's Day. You could not get a drink in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day."
For five years now, he and his wife Philomena have been celebrating in St Augustine at Donovan's Irish Pub. A spot that was just named one of the top ten Irish pubs in the world by Ireland of the Welcomes magazine.
"Ireland is different. Ireland they love a celebration and here it's a hundred times more because everybody wants to be Irish," Philomena Nolan said.
Now, even their daughter is joining in on the family tradition.
"I was expecting a celebration. I knew the Americans enjoy celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but I was absolutely blown away with the reception that we got. With how everybody really gets into it, everybody dressing up in the green," Dara Nolan told Action News.
Pub owner Maureen Bellantoni says it's an honor to play host to native Irish who come thousands of miles to drink beer at her bar.
"We're a very special place for them. We're like their family pub, like they have at home," she said. "It's fantastic. It's fantastic."
They're expecting a couple hundred people to pack in Sunday. Action News is told this is hands down their most profitable day of the year.
The Nolans say Ireland has been working to grow its celebration in recent years but nothing compares to the way Americans celebrate.
