? Some Williamsburg residents skipped the Saint Patrick?s Day parade in Manhattan for celebrations at a local pub Friday.

They gathered in their best green attire to eat corned beef and cabbage and, for some, drink. The holiday celebrates the life of Saint Patrick, who in some traditional stories was believed to have brought Christianity to Ireland. There were also stories that he drove out the snakes from Ireland.

Scholars believe the saint was originally from what is now known as Scotland, but spent many years enslaved in Ireland and lived there after he was freed.