Ms Kuivalainen said she had always celebrated St Patrick's Day, and used to get a group of friends together to share good Irish food and music when she lived at Mission Beach in Queensland.

Ms Kuivalainen said her grandmother was Irish and she had enjoyed celebrating some of the Irish traditions.

Meanwhile, the Lightning Ridge Central School also incorporated the St Patrick's Day theme in their school lunch menus on Friday.

Canteen supervisor Tracey Wilkinson said every year the canteen chose something different, and this year there were shamrock sandwiches, leprechaun wands and Irish jelly.

She said the sandwiches consisted of chicken, avocado and lettuce, while the leprechaun wands were green ice blocks, and the Irish jelly was green jelly.

Ms Wilkinson said this year's St Patrick's Day foods proved very popular with many of the students.