Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2023 In Rockville

ROCKVILLE, MD — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Restaurants and bars around Rockville will be swimming in Kelly green, and perhaps flashing red and blue lights if people don’t behave themselves.

And devout Catholics may have to consult their parish priest before they dig into a plate of corned beef and cabbage.

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program's 2023 St. Patrick’s SoberRide program is planned between 4 p.m. Friday, March 17 and 4 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Because the holiday is considered a high-risk time for intoxicated driving, the program will offer a Lyft ride up to $15.

Related: Free Sober Rides Offered For St. Patrick's Day 2023 In DC Region

Some of the places in Rockville to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• St. Patrick's Day Cover: McGinty's Public House, which is located at 911 Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring, is celebrating the holiday with live music and green beer. Ardmore plays from 5-9 p.m., followed by Thieve from 9-11 p.m. Prepaid cover guarantees entry and is cheaper than on the day.
• St. Patrick's Day Party-A feast day in Lent: St. Mary's Catholic Church, which is located at 520 Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, is hosting a St. Patrick's Day Party featuring Irish beer and fare from 6-8:30 p.m. Enjoy live music featuring Father James and friends.
• St. Patrick's Day Street Festival: Finnegan's Wake Irish Pub locate at 100 Gibbs St., Unit #F in Rockville is hosting a two-day street festival starting at 9 a.m. on Friday. Food and drinks will be served both days. Roche from DC101 will be broadcasting live from 3-7 p.m., on Friday and Saturday will feature live performances all day.
• St. Patrick's Day Party: Creek Lodge Bar & Grill located at 5566 Norbeck Road in Rockville opens at 11 a.m. on Friday to celebrate the holiday. Enjoy Irish food and drink specials through Sunday.
• St. Patrick's Day Party: Drink green mead and dine from the Salat Foods food truck at Clear Skies Meadery Co., which is located at 15201 Display Court in Rockville. Live music will be provided by the Daisy Road Band.

Devout Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, a sacrifice that recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday. Catholics in several suburban Chicago towns can eat the traditional fare without guilt, but the Diocese of Chicago is holding firm.

Whether revelers in cities like heavily Catholic Chicago, one of the most St. Patrick-y cities in the country, go all in with the holiday staple corned beef and cabbage could come down to whether they get special dispensation from the diocese.

Catholic revelers from Rockville will be happy to learn that Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, has granted Catholics in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which includes Montgomery County, dispensation from the abstinence from meat on March 17 this year. This extends to any Catholics who are in the diocese during St. Patrick's Day.

"It is not required that anyone make use of this dispensation. Those who do wish to make use of it are encouraged to abstain from meat on some other day as part of their penitential practices during Lent," according to Gregory's decree.