UTICA — St. Patrick did not drive the snakes from Ireland; the shamrock is not a native plant of Ireland; and green is not even Ireland’s national color. Singing “Danny Boy,” eating corned beef and cabbage, looking over four-leaf clovers and saying “top o’ the mornin’ to ya” are not truly Irish either.

Mark Sisti, a local musician, writer and devotee to all things Irish, presents a light-hearted discussion on “Debunking Irish Myths” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 8 at the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley-Museum, 623 Columbia St.

Sisti said the inspiration for the presentation came a few years back from his frustration in seeing St. Patrick’s Day newspaper coverage. The pre-parade story consisted of a list of bars where people could get drunk, implying it might be a drinking holiday. The post-parade coverage was a story stating that there were no fights.

There were graphics of leprechauns and four-leaf clovers, but not a single word about real Ireland.

“It struck me just how little we as Americans really know about Irish history and culture,” Sisti said. “And most of what we think we know is, at best, wrong and, at worst, insulting. Much of what we think of as Irish history, Irish music, Irish food, is simply incorrect.”

Sisti has been involved with the Great American Irish Festival in Utica from its inception, hiring bands and managing the stages. His mother was 100% Irish and he’s been to Ireland six times, including having renewed his wedding vows there on his 25th anniversary.

He taught Irish history, Irish music and Irish folklore classes at Mohawk Valley Community College and plays in the award-winning Irish band, The Blarney Rebel Band, which has sold CDs all over the world. And he drinks Guinness.

Sisti said his presentation will be a fun way to learn what is real and what is
not real about Irish culture and traditions.

“This presentation will, in a — it is hoped — light-hearted and entertaining way, correct some of these beliefs,” Sisti said. “What it’s not is a dry academic lecture. It’s presented in a way that should both amuse and educate.”

For more information, visit www.iccmv.org.