PORTLAND, Maine — Dozens of Mainers greeted St. Patrick’s Day with an icy plunge in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was completely dark at 5:30 a.m. when 75 people charged into the 37-degree water at Portland’s East End Beach. Afterward, many of the participants in the St. Paddy’s Day Plunge celebrated by pouring themselves a Guinness.
The event served as a fundraiser for the Portland Firefighters Children’s Burn Foundation.
Also Wednesday, Bishop Richard Malone plans to bless shamrocks to be distributed in pots to parishioners at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The tradition is intended to honor the memory of St. Patrick, the fifth century bishop who’s the patron saint of Ireland.