"Nancy Whiskey" is coming to PSU.

No, this is not a person, but an Irish folk song that happens to be Irish Penn State student Padraic Seamus Finnerty's (senior-astronomy) favorite St. Patrick's Day tune.

If it isn't implied from his namesake, Finnerty is 100 percent Irish and proud of it. He also said he hopes very much to be singing "Nancy Whiskey" and quite a few other folk songs tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day.

"My uncle's brother has an Irish band," Finnerty said. "We go and see him on the day of the [St. Patrick's Day] parade, and we sing Irish songs all day long and go to bars all night."

However, Guinness and folk songs are only part of the fun it is to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day, Finnerty said.

"It's the big family," he said. "I love having a big Irish family; we all march in the St. Patrick's Day parade together. That's my favorite part of St. Patrick's Day."

Finnerty said he is referring to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Pittsburgh, where he, his father and his brothers marched as part of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH).

He said this organization grew gradually among the Catholics of Ireland, owing this growth to the dreadful hardships and persecutions to which they were subjected, which are still memorialized today.

Along with Finnerty, many other Penn State students will be getting their Irish on for St. Patty's with a healthy dose of patriotism for Ireland in both traditional and non-traditional ways.

For instance, Joe Maheady (freshmen-chemical engineering) said he will be sitting down to a nice Irish dinner of ham, potatoes and cabbage.

"It's a tradition in our family," he said.

While Shane Murphy (senior-civil engineering) said he would be doing something a bit different -- downing a serious amount of green beer in honor of the day.

When asked what the reasoning is for dying the beer like this, Murphy said because beer represents Penn State pride and green represents Irish pride, the mixing of the two seems obvious for this day.

Though Murphy has Irish roots, he said the day is not exclusively for those with an Irish background.

"The best thing about St. Patty's Day is that it's a holiday where you go out and have a good time with your friends to celebrate the Irish heritage whether you're Irish or not," he said.

Murphy also said he might dance a bit for the occasion, even though he has never had lessons.

"All Irish people have the innate ability to jig," Murphy said.

Murphy is not the only Irish student at Penn State who will be doing some jigging.

"I'm building a 'Rube Goldberg' mechanical machine that will automatically construct an Irish car bomb every time I walk into my room," Chip Struble (junior--nuclear engineering) said. "I'm sure I'll be doing some jigging after a time."

With all of the St. Patty's Day festivities going on, Struble said he definitely agrees that dressing up is in order.

Lauren McPartland (junior-criminal justice) said St. Patrick's Day is one of her favorite holidays, and she plans on showing it.

"I have a shirt that says 'Kiss me, I'm drunk' with shamrocks on it, and I have this headband thing with two shamrocks coming out of it that like light up and blink," she said. "I'm going to get some beer goggles, and I have St. Patty's Day flip-flops and everything."

While some costumes will be more extreme, Caroline Furey (freshman-business administration), who is Irish, said she will be using a simple touch by sporting an appropriate Irish knit cap that has been in her family for many years, adding some extra pride in her heritage.