The celebration of St Patrick's Day in London and the contribution of the Irish community to London may seem a fairly recent phenomenon this year marking the twentieth anniversary of the Mayor of London's celebrations. However, we have a report of celebrations on St Patrick's day in the capital going back to 1713 when Jonathan Swift recalled seeing "the Mall so full of crosses that I thought the whole world was Irish." The Shamrock has replaced the cross, but on March 17, the whole world will be Irish.