For over 1,000 years people have been celebrating Saint Patrick, the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. Not much is known about his early life. Much of it is folklore. The Irish are prone to spinning exciting tales to remember history. So, the story of St. Patrick’s life became exaggerated over the centuries. Here is a little of what I found out.

He was born in Roman Britain to wealthy parents. He disclosed through his own letters that he was kidnapped at the age of 16 by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave. During his captivity, he worked as a shepherd. Lonely and frightened, he turned to his religion for comfort. Some believe, during this period, he dreamed of converting the Irish people to Christianity. Patrick believed God’s voice spoke to him and told him to leave Ireland.

Patrick eventually escaped. A second revelation told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. After returning to his family and entering the church he became a cleric and then a Bishop. Patrick did return to Ireland as a missionary and is credited with bringing Christianity to its people. 

One popular legend says St. Patrick, banished “the snakes” from Ireland. Bust snakes do not and did not exist in Ireland. Most likely the snake reference is not actually about the reptile. Instead, the more likely reference is to the druids or pagan worshipers of snakes or serpent Gods. 

Another popular belief is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) by using the three leaves of a shamrock, a native Irish clover. The druids used the shamrock as part of their Pagan symbolism. The color of the shamrock, obviously, is the source for the green color theme.

Patrick was familiar with the Irish language and culture. According to Irish legend, instead of getting rid of native Irish beliefs all together, he chose to incorporate its traditional rituals into his lessons of Christianity. For instance, the sun was a powerful Irish symbol. He superimposed it onto the Christian cross and created the Celtic cross.

Patrick was able to combine, in harmony, old Irish pagan traditions with Christianity. He was also the first major figure to reject slavery. 

But did you know St. Patrick is a saint in name only? He was never officially canonized. 

That process did not exist until around the 12th century. Until then, the title “saint” was bestowed first upon martyrs and then upon individuals recognized as being exceptionally holy during their lifetimes. Because of his body of work, he has been recognized as St. Patrick.

Depending upon the source, it is believed he died on 17 March, somewhere around 461A.D.and is supposedly buried under Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, Ireland.

So how did we come to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? 

One suggestion is this. A Franciscan scholar, Luke Wadding, born in 1588 was influential in establishing
the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death as a feast day in the Catholic Church.

In Ireland it is more of a religious holiday, similar to Easter or Christmas. They start the day by going to mass and then flock to the local village for the parade and celebrations. In Dublin, the St. Patrick’s Day parade is a five-day festival with nearly a half million people in attendance. Lots of green colored clothing, shamrocks, dancing, and of course, the Guiness.

In 1737, The Charitable Irish Society of Boston was the first to recognize St. Patrick’s Day with a parade. Its purpose was to honor and celebrate the Irish culture from which many of the colonist had been separated. St. Patrick’s Day parades started in New York in 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British military who marched down Broadway. 

And what about the mischievous Leprechauns?

Those Irish mythological leprechauns are Faeries. They are of the Tuatha De’ Danann persuasion who invaded Ireland but were later banished to live under ground. They arrived in Ireland before the Celts. Some believe they are the true natives of Ireland and descended from Irish royalty. 

Leprechauns are 2 – 3 feet tall, with red hair and pointed ears. They are known to be quick witted, highly intelligent, devious, and love their ale. They will do anything to evade capture from humans. But if you want to capture one, the best way is to tempt them with false gold and four-leaf clovers. Supposedly they can survive hundreds of years. By the way Leprechauns only exit in the male form. 

Faeries are not known to have trades, but these little guys do. Because of their love of Irish music and traditional dance, they wear out their shoes. Always in need of new shoes, they learned the shoemaking trade. 

Why do we associate St. Patrick Day with Leprechauns?

Perhaps it is because both are a significant part of Irish legend and myth. The 1959 Walt Disney movie
“Darby O’Gill & The Little People probably also contributed to the association.  Leprechauns were originally depicted as wearing red, but in the twentieth century green became associated with everything Irish. 

Some interesting happenings around the world celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

     *Chicago, Illinois   The Chicago River is turned green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

     *London, England   The 443 ft. London Eye, Europe’s tallest Ferris Wheel is lit up with green lights.

     *New York, New York   The Empire State Building is lit up in green.

     *Rio De Janeiro, Brazil   The 98-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer is lit in green.

     *Paris, France    Sacre’ Coeur Basilica is illuminated in green.

     *Cairo, Egypt   In 2013 the Pyramids and the Sphinx had green floodlights shinning on them for the first time ever.

     *In Japan the citizens perform traditional Irish jigs, play bagpipes, and dress up as leprechauns, and then gather at local oyster festivals to shuck and bake shellfish.

     *Hot Springs, Arkansas   Celebrates with the world’s shortest parade. It’s on Bridge Street. The street is 98 feet long and features Irish Elvis impersonators and Lards of the Dance, a troupe of middle-aged Irish dancers.

     *O’Neil, Nebraska    Irish ancestry is celebrated with a dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham”, a shamrock duck hunt, and what caught my attention, the “Getting the Horse Green” event. (Aztec might look good in green?)

     *New London, Wisconsin   The naughty leprechauns will rename the town by changing the road signs to “New Dublin”. Weeklong activities include Finnegan’s Wake, a parody of an Irish wake. 

So, what began as a religious feast day celebrating the patron saint of Ireland has now become a largely commercially driven festival celebrating Irish culture. It most likely is the most celebrated national holiday in the world.

Help yourself to a Guinness but try to remember how it all started!!