I have had the absolute pleasure of celebrating the last 10 St. Patrick's Days on the Emerald Isle. I've been pinned with shamrock and crowned with several embarrassing green headdresses; I've giggled to the lyrics of Seven Drunken Nights and I've shed a tear during a heartfelt rendition of Danny Boy.

I've scoffed too much stew and become over-familiar with too many pints of Guinness, and I've even dressed up as a leprechaun and "hunted" for the "wee people" on the slopes of Slieve Foy during Ireland's National Leprechaun Hunt.

I wasn't the only one, I promise ...

So here I am now, a new resident in Richmond, with a brand new kind of St. Patrick's Day looming before me.

But nobody seems to be celebrating the spud, and as far as I'm aware, there are no "wee people" hiding their pots of gold up there on those mountains that I can see. So what's a girl to do?

Well, the local Irish bar seemed like a good place to start asking questions. And so it was that I found myself in O'Hare's Pub and Bistro on Steveston Highway, sitting opposite Mr. Jack O'Hare himself.

O'Hare's is the most authentic of Irish drinking establishments, and O'Hare's is the most irrefutable of Irish gentlemen. Soaking up the warmth of the log fire pit, the familiarity of the Irish memorabilia that adorns the walls and the gentleness of O'Hare's Irish lilt, I felt like I'd been transported back to the Emerald Isle.

Hailing from the windswept village of Warrenpoint (that's "Rinn Mhic Giolla Rua" in Irish, meaning "Point of the red-haired servant") in County Down -- which just happens to overlook the breathtaking Cooley Peninsula, where the National Leprechaun Hunt is held each year -- O'Hare's Irish eyes calmly reassured me that my first St. Patrick's Day on this side of the pond would most certainly not be a flop.

"When I came to Vancouver in 1974, nobody celebrated St. Patrick's Day," explained O'Hare.

"I was in the Piano Bar in the Hyatt and I asked the pianist to play an Irish tune. He didn't know any."

So O'Hare took matters into his own hands: "The following year my wife Jane and I decided to have a big party at our house. From 1975 until 1987 -- when we bought the pub -- we had some huge parties. And then we just moved the party to the pub."

It's no surprise that Jack is the life and soul of the St. Patrick's Day party.

He grew up celebrating the day in traditional Irish style: "In Warrenpoint, St. Patrick's Day was a big, big day for us," he reminisced. "It's in the middle of Lent and most Catholics go off drink for Lent -- but on St. Patrick's Day they have absolution from that. At one minute past midnight the pubs opened for 24 hours straight.

"As a kid, I would wear a sprig of shamrock and go to church in the morning. Then all the kids went to the pubs where our parents were having a great time and they sometimes gave us a little bit of shandy," he laughed. "And then there would always be a big meal back at home."

Over the years, O'Hare has celebrated many-a-colourful St. Patrick's Day. During his time working in the hotel trade in Dublin he welcomed thousands of American travellers to the city; while working in Montreal his boss gave him the day off and a personal chauffeur to take him to the bar; and during the mid-90s he once attempted to out-drink all the customers in O'Hares: "I can't really remember the end of that story though," he smiled.

So what about this year? How should a new girl in town celebrate in style this St. Patrick's Day?

"If you want to have a good time, come down to O'Hare's and drink some Guinness!" O'Hare enthused. "Leave your cares and worries outside the door and come on in and enjoy!

"In this family pub St. Patrick's Day is a day when people get together -- it's very much like what I grew up with in Ireland. It's about companionship, listening to Irish songs and having a great time."

It certainly sounds like my hunt is over. I'll be there. O'Hare be there. Irish dancers will be performing and there will be enough green beer and Irish stew to sink a ship. Leprechaun outfits are strictly optional though.