The Saints Battle It Out in Rhode Island

St. Patrick or St. Joseph? Your fellow Ocean Staters weigh in.

It’s a question as old as time — or at least as old as St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day celebrations in Rhode Island: Which is the “better” holiday? The “better” Saint? Party-hardy St. Paddy or family-friendly St. Giuseppe? Of course, local Irishmen and Italians alike have their personal biases and opinions, but we decided to team up with the morning hosts from Lite Rock 105 to settle the matter once and for all.

 

For a bit more background info, please refer to these (mis)quoted lines by Shakespeare:

Two households [heritages], both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona [Providence], where we lay our scene,

From ancient [a pretty old] grudge break to new mutiny [quibbles]

Where civil  blood [Guinness and zeppoles] makes civil hands unclean.

 

From forth the fatal [quarrelsome] loins of these two foes [stubborn European countries]

A pair of star-cross'd lovers [local radio hosts] take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows [hard-hitting investigations]

Do with their deaths [endeavors] bury their parents’ [ancestors'] strife.

Okay, so comparing this dispute to that of the Montagues and Capulets may be somewhat of a (dramatic) stretch, but it is a long, drawn out feud just the same. Watch how our Battle of the Saints plays out below as Steve Donovan visits DeLuise Bakery on Chalkstone Avenue for the skinny on St. Joseph’s Day and Heather Gersten heads to Fat Belly’s Pub on Canal Street for the scoop on St. Patrick’s Day.

Which holiday do you think will come out on top? (Spoiler alert: Unlike Romeo and Juliet, this story does not end in death — fake or otherwise.)