Kane County Catholics have received dispensation to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day.

Generally in the U.S., the norms of cannons require the faithful to abstain from eating meat during the Fridays of Lent. But since the Memorial of St. Patrick falls on a Friday of Lent this year, many Catholic religious leaders said they’d honor St. Patrick and “the patrimony of the Irish people to whom he preached the gospel” by saying it’s OK to have a little corned beef.

Rockford Diocese Bishop David Malloy granted the dispensation on Feb. 22. The dispensation applies to Catholics who live in the diocese or are visiting the diocese.

Malloy, whose morning television message in Rockford is titled, “Top O’ the Mornin’,” urges the faithful to perform some other act of penance or charity that day.

According to IrishCentral.com, the tradition of eating corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day is kind of an American thing.

“Beef was not readily available in Ireland and was considered a luxury and that’s why the traditional Irish meal centered around ham, the bacon,” the website says. “But when these Irish got off the boats in America it was quite the opposite. Corned beef was the meat that they could easily and more cheaply get their hands on and, so, this became the meal of choice for generations of Irish Americans to come.”

Rockford Diocese Map

The Rockford Diocese includes all of Kane County, IL.