There’s more to this celebration than just an excuse to wear green from head-to-toe and drink a pint of Guinness.
St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated by the Irish since the 9th century (although Ireland did not make it a public holiday until 1904). This widely celebrated day was originally set aside as a religious day, not a day to party! March 17th was a day of solemnity – a modest celebration to honor the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The Catholic Church officially recognized St. Patrick’s Day as a feast day in 1631, and as a holy day, people attended church services and the pubs were closed. This is a very different scene from today’s merriments in Ireland, the United States and 200 other countries around the globe – UK, Japan, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Malaysia, Canada and Singapore, to name a few. When Irish immigrants settled in the New World, they brought their traditions with them; especially those that emphasized Irish pride. It was Ricardo Artur, the Spanish Colony’s vicar, who organized the first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade in what is now known as St. Augustine, Florida on March 17, 1601. That’s right…the first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in the United States, not Ireland. It wasn’t until 1903 that Waterford, Ireland had its first parade, the heartbeat of the holiday festivities; and it was another 30 years before the first official, state-sponsored St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Dublin. Over time, St. Paddy’s Day became less about honoring the religious “saint” and more of a secular celebration of Irish culture through special foods, parades, dances, music and, of course, lots of green – the color commonly associated with St. Patrick.
Four facts about St. Patrick that will “shamrock” your world:
- Saint Patrick was not Irish.
Saint Patrick, the son of Christian parents, was born in Roman Britain in the late fourth century. According to his own writings, he was kidnapped at age 16 by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to an unnamed master in Northern Ireland. After working six years in captivity as a shepherd, he dreamed God told him to return home to his family. He escaped, returned to England where he studied and was eventually ordained as a priest and sent to Ireland as a Christian missionary.
- His birth name was not Patrick.
While exact dates are uncertain, most historians believe he was born around the year 385 AD. Some call him Maewyn Succat, while others refer to him as Magonus or Cothirthiacus. In his autobiography, Confessio, he calls himself Patricius. After becoming a priest, he was renamed Patricus and, upon his return to Ireland, he changed it to Patrick.
- Saint Patrick’s color was not green.
As depicted in ancient artworks and historical records, Saint Patrick’s robes were originally azure blue. In fact, his color was known as “Saint Patrick’s blue.” The color green became associated with St. Patrick’s Day after it was linked to the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century when the shamrock became a symbol of nationalism and the “wearing of the green” on lapels became a regular practice.
- He did not drive snakes out of Ireland.
The legend of St. Patrick standing on a hilltop with his wooden staff in hand banishing all the snakes from the island of Ireland is popular, but scientists say Ireland is one of the few places on the planet where snakes are not found in the wild. In other words, Ireland’s lack of snakes cannot be attributed to St. Patrick.
Although Patrick was not formally canonized by the Catholic Church, he is highly revered in Ireland and considered to be a saint in heaven by many Christian churches. Let’s raise a glass (green beer, of course) in celebration of St. Patrick and his special day with this Irish toast:
“May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more. And nothing but happiness comes through your door.”
