St Patrick's Day

To fully understand why we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, we need to start will a little history lesson: -

St Patrick as you may or may not know, is the most commonly know of the patron saints of Ireland, although it is believed that he was born in year AD 387 in an area that is known today as Cumbria. His first encounter with Ireland was when he was sent there as a slave having being captured by Irish raiders when he was fourteen. After six years of slavery he managed to escape his captors and return to his home. At this point he followed in the steps of his grandfather who was a priest and his father who was a deacon and entered the Church. After an unknown period of time, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop and one of the earliest recorded Christian missionaries. It is here that he is believed to have thousands of people, including the wealthy and even sons of kings to Christianity. It is documented that he died on March the 17th AD 461 at the grand old age of 74 and it is said that he is buried at Down Cathedral. He has been associated with the legend that he was responsible for ridding Ireland of snakes, although there is debate as to whether this could mean ridding Ireland of paganism as they where associated with the serpent symbol.

And this is why we have traditionally celebrated on the day of his death, March the 17th, with a feast. There have been occasions when the actual day of celebration has been changed and these tend to be when there is a clash of dates with other holy days such as palm Sunday and holy week. Records show that it has been celebrated widely since the beginning of the 17th century, although it is believed to be much earlier that this in the Irish church.

St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and a Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland.

Whilst there are many celebrations and events held all over Ireland, Dublin has the largest by far. Starting in 1996 with a 3 day event is has steadily increased to what is now a five day event which attracts over 600,000 people and culminates in a massive parade.

St Patrick’s Day celebrations are by no means restricted to Ireland and are now celebrated the world over wherever the Catholic Church has a large presence or there is a high contingency of Irish, although celebrations are as widely celebrated by Non-Irish alike. Other countries that celebrate St Patrick’s Day include Canada, America, England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and many more.

Traditional celebrations centered around a community based feast, where as today it is a highly commercialized event with the advent of all things green and shamrock shaped being available from many stores and shops. In Chicago they dye the river green and many town and city fountains mysteriously start spouting green water.

So, if on the 17th of March, you find yourself in an area that is holding St Patrick’s day celebrations, remember to wear something green and memorize the following so that you can join in the recital: -

St. Patrick's Day is here, you see.
We'll pick some shamrocks, one, two, three.
We'll count the leaves and look them over,
And maybe find a four-leafed clover.
I'll sew green buttons on my vest,
Green for St. Patrick is the best.
I'll wear a green hat, very high,
And dance a jig--at least I'll try!

We hope you enjoyed the read and know a little more about St Patrick than you did before.

The Team @ Gifts2theDoor UK