Guide to celebrating St Patrick’s Day in Rome.

St Patrick’s Day in Rome begins officially on Thursday 17 March at 10.00, with the annual Mass for Lá Fhéile Pádraig being celebrated by Mons. Ciarán O’Carroll at St Isidore’s College on Via degli Artisti 41 in the Via Veneto area. The Mass is always extremely well-attended by the city’s Irish community and friends of Ireland, who join together in a misty-eyed rendition of Hail Glorious, St Patrick.

Tourism Ireland is staging the sixth edition of Global Greening, the annual initiative that sees international landmarks illuminated in green lights for St Patrick's Day. This year the scope of the event is being extended, with people in Italy and around the world encouraged to "green" their office, home, company logo, website or team meeting, before tweeting their photographs under the hashtag #GoGreen4PatricksDay.

Festivities continue over the weekend with the Celtic Ball – Rome’s most important social occasion in Irish circles – on Saturday 19 March at 19.30. This year marks the 25th edition of the annual black-tie event which is held at the fivestar Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi near Villa Borghese.

For those who wish to raise a toast to St Patrick with a pint or two of Guinness, some of the Irish pubs most favoured by the capital’s Irish expats include the Druid’s Den, the Fiddler’s Elbow, Finnegan’s, and Scholars Lounge, all of which attract large crowds on the days around St Patrick’s Day each year. An increasing amount of the action takes place at Scholars which this year hosts several Irish acts on the night including the inimitable Dublin balladeer Liamo Kelly and lively Wexford performer Darren Byrne.