St Patrick’s Day has in many ways always been more about Ireland’s global image than anything else.

At its best, it helps millions of people around the world who lay claim to Irish ancestry remain connected to that identity, and offers a chance to celebrate their heritage.

An estimated 50,000 people attended the parade in London on Sunday, while millions across the US donned their traditional ancestral garb – complete with massive leprechaun hats and ginger beards – to head out and celebrate.

Our image has come a long way from the ‘Irish need not apply’ signs that accompanied job advertisements in both the UK and US from the late 1800s right up to the 1960s.

While anti-Irish sentiment still exists in places, the popular idea of us as anything but civilised has moved on, with our stereotypical love of a drink now seen as a good thing as opposed to a sign of inherent evil.

Over in the UK being Irish is becoming a bit of a trendy thing – Guinness has gone from being an old man’s drink of choice to one of the most popular pub tipples, even among Gen Z.

Restaurants across London have been introducing their own versions of the spice bag. Irish language classes sell out like an in-demand concert.

In the US – where many of our politicians decamped to mark our patron saint’s day – rivers are dyed green, pots of gold appear on t-shirts and people discover the word ‘sláinte’ for a 24-hour period.

But in recent years the ‘hoity toity’ nature of how Ireland gets depicted in other countries seems to have bled back into how we celebrate things here too.

Shops last week were full of leprechaun-themed plastic that has probably already been binned since Tuesday, while radio ads invite children to meet the big green man himself, á la Father Christmas in December, and then take part in a leprechaun disco.

The ongoing commercialisation (or Americanisation) of the day only serves to dilute its benefits, of which there are still many.

There are charities and community groups across the county which have raised much-needed funds and awareness in recent days, while it would be unfair to compare the impact of a village parade with under 100 participants to garish goings on across the Atlantic.

In a world where American political and cultural talking points already have a big influence on how we see and talk about the world and ourselves, perhaps we should leave the cartoon pints and sparkling green pants to them too.