Sun Lite for March 17, 2003

Monday, March 17, 2003 | 8:18 a.m.

Cause for celebration

Here's a bit o' news sure to make bankers and postal workers among others whose jobs come to a screeching halt in honor of all sorts of obscure holidays dance a jig: The push is on to make St. Patrick's Day a national holiday.

Sure, everyone is unofficially a little Irish come March 17. What leprechaun-loving, corned-beef-and-cabbage scarfing, "Kiss-me,-I'm-Irish"-button-wearing reveler doesn't know that?

So why not make it official? That's what the makers of Guinness stout are wondering. The company cites results from a recent poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, that showed 33 percent of adult Americans are in favor of bestowing St. Paddy's Day national-holiday status.

Guinness is leading a campaign to make the happen. It's asking people to sign a petition, which will be sent to Washington, D.C., in hopes that lawmakers will give the holiday the green light. (Because, you know, the Capitol suits have nothing else to worry about these days, what with war looming and all.)

Even celebrities including former Las Vegan-turned-late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel are rallying in support of the, um, cause. Kimmel said St. Patrick's Day "means fun, drinking, eating things that aren't supposed to be green ... it beats the hell out of Flag Day." Point taken.

Want to help make a holiday, not a war? Sign the St. Patrick's Day petition at guinness.com.

Kissing cousins?

Here's a bit of Irish trivia courtesy of yet another spirits company, Bushmills Irish Whiskey to share tonight, while donning one of those goofy plastic hats and nursing (responsibly, of course) a mug of green beer.

Bushmills also wants to help people of Irish descent trace their lineage. Today the company launches its Family Heritage Search program, with Dublin-based Irish Genealogy Limited. Visit BushmillsHeritage.com through April 17 for the chance to become one of 500 people whose Irish ancestry will be uncovered free of charge.

Can't sit around waiting to win? To begin researching your own history, IGL recommends rummaging through old letters, photos and religious books belonging to family members to locate important names and dates of births, marriages and deaths. Then start another scrapbook for the newfound information to document your search.

After pressing relatives for information about kinfolk, search genealogy websites including Ancestry.com and Ellisisland.org for cemetery records, city directories and national archives. If you're able, arrange to visit your ancestors' homeland to meet distant relatives and reconnect with your heritage.