St Patrick’s Day, a totally green affair !!
Saint Patrick’s Day, Lá Fhéile Pádraig in Gaelic, is an annual feast day that celebrates the Irish saint, St Patrick (AD 385–461), the most commonly recognised of the saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17th March, in some countries this can vary but the country that matters the most is Ireland so its the 17th March.
The day is a national & public holiday in Ireland and there are huge celebrations throughout the country and through out the world. Shamrock is considered to be the item all Irish must wear on the day and its the official emblem. Its actually registered to the Government of Ireland believe it or not and they are thinking about taxing the shamrock that grows through out the country.
The shamrock was chosen Ireland’s national emblem because of the legend that St. Patrick had used it to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is the idea that God is really three-in-one: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. St Patrick demonstrated the meaning of the Three-in-One by picking a shamrock from the grass growing at his feet and showing it to his listeners. He told them that just as the shamrock is one leaf with three parts, God is one entity with three Persons. It is also said the St Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland, pity he wasn’t around during the recent economical recession as there were still a lot of those snakes about then !!!!!
The day is celebrated much the same in all different parts of the country as its much of the world, great parades take place in all the major cities and there is a lot of good clean ‘green’ fun. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade held in the new Irish Republic was held in Dublin in 1931 but it has been recorded in the United States that the first celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1737, the parades were held as political and social statements because the Irish immigrants were being treated unfairly. Today the parades are full of different floats, from Fire Men to Lumberjacks, animals to piped bands!!!!!
Now the reason the Irish tend to drink on this day more than any other day is of course based on religion. Lent, a fasting period in catholicism, ended in or around St Patrick’s Day, so everyone who had been fasting would head to the pub and stay their all day having their fill and fancy, and the tradition has stuck. Its not the the Irish actually like to drink :) Today, Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike.
Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-coloured clothing and items, rivers and harbors are dyed green, even Mc’Donalds is Loving It green. Although in the old days wearing to much green would have been too great a temptation for the Leprechaun’s (The name leprechaun comes from the old Irish word “luchorpan” which means “little body.)!!!! There was an old superstition that green was the Leprechaun’s favorite color and they’d spirit away any child fully-garbed in green, so watch out !!!
Music is another factor in the celebrations for St Patrick’s Day, and live music can heard the length and breath of Ireland, nearly every pub will have live musicians playing fantastic music on traditional Irish instruments from the fiddle to the harp and the mandolin to the Bodhrans. If your in Ireland your are truly in for a feast of the senses.
There will be people dancing in the streets, in the pubs and parks and the reality is not everyone is drunk :)
So if your in Taiwan or Egypt, New York or Barcelona, check with your local Irish community or just the local Irish bar and see what is going on in your town or city. And Happy St. Patrick’s Day and a toast to you and yours:
St. Patrick was a gentleman
Who through strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here’s a toasting to his health;
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good St. Patrick
And see all those snakes again!
St Patrick was born to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. His given name was Maewyn. Far from being a saint, until he was 16, Patrick considered himself a pagan.
When St Patrick was about sixteen years old when he was abducted and enslaved by Irish marauders, under their leader, Niall of the Nine Hostages.
He eventually settled in France and studied in a monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years.
Patrick was called to Rome in 432 whereupon Pope Celestine bequeathed the honour of Bishop upon him before he left on his holy mission.
Patrick and 24 of his followers arrived in Ireland in the winter of 432.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. Patrick is thought to have died sometime between 463AB and 493AD, on March 17th.
There are several accounts of St. Patrick’s death. One says that St. Patrick died at Saul, Downpatrick. His jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic fits, and as a preservative against the “evil eye.”Another account says that St. Patrick ended his days at Glastonbury, England and was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as part of Glastonbury Abbey
Fables about Patrick ridding Ireland of snakes or his use of the shamrock to explain the Trinity, still endure as part of modern St Patrick’s Day folklore and custom.
St Patrick is credited with establishing the Leap Year tradition of women proposing to men. The story states this was because St Bridget complained that women were tired of waiting for marriage proposals. The story also says that Bridget proposed to him, but he refused!
