While it's easy to love the celebrations surrounding St. Patrick's Day, there's no denying that it casts a light on both the best and worst attributes of Irish culture. Surely, the most controversial aspect this holiday serves to bring to the surface remains the Irish people's (and the millions of Irish descent spread around the globe) complicated relationship with alcohol.

Although the drinking leprechaun stereotype marks the Irish as the personification of liquored-up irresponsibility, quarrelsomeness and wantonness, drinking's true purpose in the Irish psyche and culture is obscured. If a stop at the local pub, bar, tavern or improvised watering hole is the inalterable center of Irish social life, raising a glass or two is the sacrament that sanctifies the occasion and renders holy the kinship that comes with the shared inebriating experience.

A visit to the bar or pub is an environment where many of the oppressed (and repressed) Celtic people have momentarily found a reprieve from their troubles. It's a venue where they can safely express their sorrow, anger, love or lonesomeness, temporarily tame it and turn it into something positive. And after a sip or two, hearing, playing or singing a traditional song -- the Irish equivalent of gospel music -- is the vehicle to further the moment, excise some demons and entertain your coconspirators.

Irish traditional music, sometimes called trad, has a rich history that has been deeply influential on all aspects of Western music -- from folk to punk to hip-hop. The music has a well-known reservoir of ballads, jigs, reels and rebel songs that likewise hiding meaning (personal, historical, political) in the beauty and excitement of the form.

The best Irish drinking songs have become familiar because they reach for and embrace universal qualities that appeal to everyone, but perhaps tug at the Irish head and heart most of all. Some tunes are wistful or express devotion while others want to raise hell. Some are just plain fun.

Click on to see the list of the greatest Irish drinking song, in no particular order: