St. Patrick lived in the seventh century but his spirits will be flowing at Ernie Oelbermann's bar today and tonight.

"Ernie" -- as he is called by his patrons -- is the quintessential Irish bar owner. As the 20-year proprietor of The Phyrst, 111½ Beaver Ave., he has slowly decorated the pub into a den of Erin. Peppering the walls are hundreds of photos taken by Ernie on St. Patrick's Days dating from the 1970's.

Bursting with bonhomie, he strides to several of the photos. "This one's coming back from Vancouver, and this one, he's coming from Saudi Arabia," Ernie exclaims, pointing at several pictures.

People travel all over the world to celebrate the holiday with Ernie at The Phyrst. Ernie can personally identify many of the people in the photographs because they are friends, employees, and regulars, or all three. Smiling with his Irish eyes, he recounts the romantic intrigue of three former employees, who unknowingly will be reunited tonight. As for the Vancouver and Saudi Arabia residents, they are friends of Ernie's who return every year.

Ernie is not featured in most of these photos. Yet, when captured in a grinning moment, he is usually modeling a St. Patrick's Day outfit.

Every St. Patrick's Day, Ernie sports an Irish green sport coat with various pins, one urging, "Chug, Ernie!" On his head sits a tweed riding cap, and in his hand, a banjo. Ernie plays banjo in his band, The Phyrst Phamly. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, The Phyrst Phamly has gathered a following for its folk music.

"It's sing-along music, like 'Roll Out the Barrel,' songs like that," he explains. The patrons really get into the music, shouting along merrily as the night hums along, he says.

Of course, along with Ernie's garrulous personality, is the bar's famous beer glass which was made at the University. In this extremely long glass, shaped something like a mutant thermometer, pine green beer is poured. Green beer is a favorite Phyrst drink only served today.

"The green beer tastes better," avows Tim Biertempfel (senior-mechanical engineering).

Alcohol has been a tradition of the holiday since the seventh century when men gathered at Irish pubs and imbibed "pota Phadraic" -- a alcoholic drink -- to celebrate the feast of St. Patrick.

Patrick introduced Christianity to the verdant island of Eire and during the course of his life, he managed to hedge a deal with God. As a reward for banishing all demons from Croaghpatrick mountain, Patrick was permitted to judge all Irish on the Last Day.

The Phyrst is so popular on St. Patrick's Day that the notorious line already begins forming in the early morning. Ernie has four photos placed next to each other which shows the full extent of the line.

"People start lining up by 7 a.m.," Biertempfel says. "The line is worse than the Skellar's."

At 9 a.m., The Phyrst opens. Ernie says people come filing into The Phyrst in streams. Hot chocolate steams in patrons' hands until 11 a.m., when alcohol can be served. Ernie points to a photo illustration.

"That's the first one in line every year," he laughs. It is a picture of a man drinking green beer out of the long mug with a smile stretching his face.

"It's something you have to experience," says Dwayne Perry (senior-broadcast cable). "Grab a table early enough, and stay there all day."

Another distinct Phyrst tradition on St. Patrick's Day is "Becky's Barbecue Sauce." The homemade barbecue sauce of Ernie's wife, Becky, is offered to patrons with hot dogs or kielbasa and sauerkraut.

While everyone may look like a Shamrock today, the wearing of green is not a return-to-nature fashion movement. Irish folklore expert Daithi O hOgain -- yes in fact this is how he spells it, two capital O's and no apostrophes -- traces this interesting tradition to an event during St. Patrick's Christianity crusade in the seventh century.

Challenged to an ordeal of fire by pagans, Patrick designated his servant boy to take his place, according to O hOgain in his book, The Hero in Irish Folk History. Patrick arranged for the boy to wear the druid's outer garment, and the druid to cover himself with the cloak of St. Patrick.

The servant boy and the druid were placed in a half-green wood and half-dry wood hut. After the hut was set on fire and dying embers seared the soil, the druid burned although the cloak was untouched. Oddly, the boy returned unscathed but his covering had been torched. This was translated as the fire of Christianity consuming paganism, O hOgain writes.

In acknowledgement that the green wood of the hut did not burn, people donned green as a symbolic protection against paganism.

For all those students intending to grab a fortune by its green lapels today -- stop. It is well-known that leprechauns hide a "pot o' gold," and catching one assures a life of leisure.

However, there are no leprechauns at University Park. Ever since teachers ridiculed leprechauns for their diminutive size, leprechauns detest schools, as P.R. McAnally Jr. wrote in 1888.