Boston's St. Patrick's Day may be known for a boozy good time, but more are opting to forgo the buzz

BOSTON (AP) — Tommy McCarthy’s Irish bar just outside Boston’s city limits pours more Guinness than almost anywhere in the U.S., yet come this St. Patrick's Day, the longtime owner of The Burren is stocking up on plenty of nonalcoholic options too.

“It’s come a long way since we first opened,” McCarthy said, who started slinging pints at the beloved establishment in 1996 after moving to the Boston area from West Clare, Ireland.

There is perhaps no other holiday tied more to a city than St. Patrick's Day in Boston. According to historians, the city was the first in the country to throw a celebration for the patron saint of Ireland on March 17, 1737, as a way to support the city's wave of Irish immigrants.

Yet while the holiday has become connected to heavy drinking over the centuries, a small but growing crowd has found ways to participate in the St. Patrick's Day parades, festivals and banquets without a buzz. They're doing so by turning to nonalcoholic beers, mocktails and solely sober spaces — even in the heart of Boston.

“St. Patrick’s Day is a huge drinking holiday. It is promoted absolutely everywhere,” said Jackie Taylor who has been sober for 12 years.

But she's found lots of ways to celebrate the holiday — whether out on the town or at home — without risking a situation where "you might not make it out of there sober.”

Nonalcoholic drinks are popular on St. Patrick’s Day weekend during The Burren's four days of Irish music shows, which can last 10 hours each. McCarthy said he’s a Guinness drinker but sticks to the nonalcoholic brew when playing the fiddle.

“I top it up with the real creamy alcohol head,” he said. “You’re only getting a small bit of the alcohol, but you get the real cream. But you’re also getting the taste of the real Guinness without the alcohol. It kind of beats all.”

Michelle Flynn, manager at the Brendan Behan Irish pub in Boston's Jamacia Plain, said most bars now serve nonalcoholic beers — a significant shift from decades ago.

“The neighborhood, society, everything has changed, has shifted a 1,000% — especially in the youth,” she said.

It's not just bar owners noticing an uptick in a demand for nonalcoholic options. Young adults are drinking less than they were in decades past, according to polling by Gallup, which reported in 2023 that adults under 35 were less likely to say they use alcohol at least occasionally than they were in the early 2000s.

Gallup also saw a decline in the share of young adults who drink regularly or say they sometimes drink “more than they think they should” over the same time period.

Michael Scelfo, chef and owner of four Boston area cocktail bars, said his businesses have served mocktails since he opened Cambridge-based Alden & Harlow 11 years ago. But after the pandemic, demand significantly increased.

“It’s really kind of an expected and formidable part of the menu now,” he said, with bartenders putting just as much care into a mocktail's execution.

For nearly 15 years, William Spencer Reilly has been throwing a “ Sober St. Patrick's Day ” in New York City — which kicks off after the parade with Irish bands, dancers and food — and may soon expand the mission to Boston.

The sober event's founder and chairman has always had his eye on Boston "for all the obvious reasons.”

According to Reilly, it's about refocusing the typically-booze forward festivities on celebrating Irish heritage and honoring St. Patrick, the priest born in the late fourth century who was enslaved in Ireland and later returned to promote the spread of Christianity. It's also a chance to break hurtful stereotypes of Irish people.

When he first proposed the idea of a sober event on such a booze-heavy day, he was met with incredulity and doubt over public interest. Now he's in talks with Boston’s local leaders and believes there’s finally enough interest and support to branch out next year.

People generally seem more interested in being healthier, said Scelfo. That includes how they choose to spend their holidays.

“The perils and pitfalls of alcohol are well-documented when not used responsibly,” he said. “We’ve got an intelligent young generation that’s focused on health and wellness. And I think that that’s a great thing."

Krusei reported from Nashville, Tennessee, and Willingham reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington D.C. contributed.

Jeanmarie Holmes of the Dragonfly Cafe pours a Kiwi Mule mocktail, made without tequila, during the sober Saint Patrick's Day celebration at the Whistler House Museum, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Lowell, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A guest is handed a Kiwi Mule mocktail, made without tequila, during the sober Saint Patrick's Day celebration at the Whistler House Museum, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Lowell, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

April Loh, left, and Marie Maia, take a selfie while enjoying a Kiwi Mule mocktail, made without tequila, during the sober Saint Patrick's Day celebration at the Whistler House Museum, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Lowell, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A St. Patrick's Day decoration is displayed between two drink menus at the Burren Pub, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Somerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Bartender Michelle Flynn strings up St. Patrick's Day decorations at the Irish pub Brendan Behan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Non-alcohol beers are in the minority on a beverage menu at the Irish pub Brendan Behan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A can of non-alcohol Guinness 0 sits on the bar at The Burren, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Somerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Tommy McCarthy, owner of the Burren Pub, pours a non-alcohol Guinness 0, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Somerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Bartender Michelle Flynn serves a pint of Guinness to a customer at the Irish pub Brendan Behan, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Tommy McCarthy and his wife Louise Costello, owners of the Burren Pub, play an Irish tune, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Somerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

BOSTON (AP) — A doctor from Lebanon who arrived at the Boston airport was deported over the weekend without explanation, despite having a U.S. visa and a job teaching at Brown University.

A judge had ordered she not be sent back until there was a hearing, but government lawyers said customs officials did not get word in time.

It's the latest deportation of a foreign-born person with a U.S. visa in the past week, after a student at Columbia who led protests of the Gaza war was arrested, and another student's visa was revoked. The Trump administration also transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, had been granted the visa on March 11 and arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, according to a complaint filed on her behalf by a cousin in federal court.

Alawieh, who had worked and lived in Rhode Island previously, was detained at least 36 hours, through Friday, and was going to be sent back to Lebanon, the complaint said. Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, was to start work at Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued an order on Friday that an in-person hearing be scheduled Monday, with Alawieh brought to court.

“Whether or not she is in custody of the United States, the court anticipates proceeding with this hearing,” he wrote.

But by Saturday, the cousin filed a motion that customs officials “willfully” disobeyed the order by sending Alawieh back to Lebanon.

Lawyers for the government said in a court filing Monday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Boston Logan International Airport did not receive notice of the order until she “had already departed the United States,” the judge noted. They asked that the petition be dismissed.

The judge put a hearing on her case on hold on Monday, to give Alawieh's lawyers time to prepare.

Stephanie Marzouk, Alawieh’s lawyer, said they were working to ensure the U.S. government follows the rule of law. She said they would not stop fighting to get her back in the U.S., "to see her patients where she should be.”

Alawieh worked at Brown prior to the issuance of her H1B visa, the complaint said. It said she has held fellowships and residencies at three universities in the United States.

A spokesperson for Brown said Alawieh is an employee of Brown Medicine with a clinical appointment to Brown.

Brown Medicine is a not-for-profit medical practice that is its own organization and serves its own patients directly. It is affiliated with Brown University's medical school.

On Monday, a handful of Alawieh’s colleagues stood outside Boston’s federal courthouse to support the doctor.

“She is a one of three transplant nephrologists in the entire state of Rhode Island, which, you know, also serves the parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut,” said Dr. Susie Hu. “Her absence is really detrimental to our program.”

Hu added transplant nephrology is a “highly specialized field” and filling Alawieh’s position will likely be very difficult.

Dr. Douglas Shemin, who said he hired Alawieh at Brown Medicine, called her an “outstanding” clinician, physician and teacher who eagerly put in long hours without complaining.

“She has an important fountain of knowledge that not every has,” he said.

Brown Medicine currently has roughly 300 to 400 patients waiting for kidney transplants, according to Shemin. Each one needs to regularly evaluated, which now must be done by just two doctors.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo of Rhode Island, a Democrat, said in a statement over the weekend that is "committed to getting answers from the Department of Homeland Security to provide Dr. Alawieh, her family, her colleagues, and our community the clarity we all deserve.”

A rally was planned to support her Monday night at the Rhode Island statehouse.

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the doctor's last name throughout. Her name is Rasha Alawieh, not Rasha Alawiech.

People walk past the the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Attorney Stephanie Marzouk, who represents deported Brown University Dr. Rasha Alawieh, speaks to reporters outside the Moakley Federal Courthouse, Monday, March 17, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - Pedestrians make their way past a building housing the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Jan. 30, 2019, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott, File)