Well, they wouldn't have had any bumpers to stick them too would they? :D
It always makes me smile on St Paddies day when I see Irish-Americans swigging back pints of Guinness as if it were an Irish drink, rather than the product of an English protestant family who set up a brewery in Dublin. . . . :D
I avoid the issue by being a teetotaller.:-D
Bushmills: Protestant
Jameson's: Catholic
Murphy's is a good alternative to Guinness, and it's Cork-based.
When celebrating St. Patrick's Day this past Friday, there were lots of Good Irish Catholics in the room and they were all drinking Guinness and Bud Light - the Bud was in some special Green aluminum bottles.