FARMINGTON – Helena Hiltner has one mission: to teach Americans that Ireland is more than leprechauns.

They are a part of the country’s pagan beliefs, albeit a small one, but for some reason, people think Ireland, and think little green men with brimming pots of gold.

And just a tip, if you are decked from head to toe in green on March 17 in Ireland, it’s a dead giveaway you’re American.

To the 29-year-old Farmington resident and University of Maine at Farmington student, Ireland is a nation with a spirit that cannot be conveyed in words.

Ireland is about friendly people who go out of their way for you, community involvement and constant cajoling among friends, family and neighbors.

It’s about music, dancing, pubs, a rich history and having “craic” (a great old time).

And for one day each year, or one whole week in the case of Hiltner’s hometown of Kiltimagh, located in County Mayo, Ireland is about St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday that embodies the rowdy spirit and unmatched pride of those born Irish.

The oldest of nine children, Hiltner grew up in a town of around 3,000 people that still managed to cram in 20 pubs and two nightclubs. “It’s like every third house is a pub,” she joked.

There, going out for a drink is like going for coffee in Seattle.

She left Ireland eight years ago to come to America, where she served as an au pair first in Michigan and then in Ohio. She then moved to London, serving as a nanny; then it was back to Ireland for nine months to finish her schooling; on to San Francisco; a year-long stop in Australia and then back to Ohio, where she spent two years.

Along with her new husband, Joel, Hiltner decided to seek an outdoor lifestyle and looked northeast to New England. A visit to Maine, and coincidentally, the coastal town of Belfast which shares the name of one of Ireland’s largest cities, gave the couple a good feeling.

In January of 2003 they settled on Farmington because the college was the only in the state to offer early childhood special education, Hiltner’s major.

Despite her separation from Ireland, to an American ear, Hiltner’s accent remains thick. Any doubt she is Irish is erased by her roaring laugh, dancing eyes and tendency to drop words like “craic,” “Dickens” and “Blarney” into conversations.

She is proud to be Irish and still owns a home there.

She remembers St. Patrick’s Day as a day to attend Mass, watch the parade and then party.

“On the day, there is a lot of craziness. It is celebrating being Irish and celebrating Christianity. It’s an excuse to have a really good party.”

This St. Patrick’s Day will be no different than any other day for Hiltner. Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day are the only times each year she longs for Ireland.

“I don’t celebrate it,” she admitted. “I can’t recreate it and it’s just too disappointing to try.”

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