​On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, in March, go beyond the "ordinary" custom of wearing the colour green and drinking beer at the neighbourhood pub.

With the distinction of being the only nation in the world, outside of Ireland, to commemorate St. Patrick's Day as a national holiday, the festivities offer St. Patty's Day, Caribbean-style, by infusing their African and Irish heritage into the yearly celebrations.

Residents and visitors take part in a week of feasts, costumed parades, concerts, cultural exhibitions to commemorate the planned slave uprising that occurred on the island during St. Patrick's Day in 1768.

Key activities include :

• national exhibitions showcasing the island's history, art and literature

• a "Catch the Mermaid" island-wide treasure hunt

• a Heritage Day Feast, offering samples of local traditional foods, such as bush tea, goat water, stewed yard fowl.

Local bars and restaurants also celebrate in the more traditional Irish way by serving Guinness and decorating with shamrocks and plenty of green.

The harp and female figure on the flag and official seal of Montserrat are derived from the Irish heraldy and in the southern region of the island, there is even a village named St. Patrick's (located in the exclusion zone).

Goat water, the national dish made of kid or mutton and spiced with cloves and rum, is believed to hail from the original Emerald Isle.

The Irish legacy is present in the folklore, surnames and even the local speech, which is laced with an Irish brogue.

Montserrat is a lush green and mountainous island of approximately 39 square miles in the Eastern Caribbean chain of islands.

www.visitmontserrat.com

The facts

• When to go
• Before you go
• How to get there
• What to speak
• What to spend (and tip)
• What to know

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