Where did St. Patrick's Day Come From?

"Oh! St. Patrick was a gentleman Who came of decent people; He built a church in Dublin town, And on it put a steeple." ~Henry Bennett

St. Patrick’s Day: Fun Facts

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! With the recent self-quarantines and media hysteria I felt we could use some fun facts about the meaning behind St. Patrick’s Day. So, I did some research and here you go ….

St. Patrick was not born in Ireland! That is a fact, he was born in Britain by the name of Maewyn Succat. Irish raiders kidnapped him during an attack on his family’s estate and brought him to Ireland. He was held captive for 16 years where he was isolated and worked as a shepherd in the fields. Maewyn relied on faith to get him through his days of loneliness and is ultimately where he found his devout love for Christianity. But don’t worry Maewyn escaped and went back to Britain but only after a voice he heard told him and he claimed it to be God’s voice.

Only after he escaped back to Britain did he become an ordained priest. This is when he now heard angels calling him to return to Ireland, imagine that you escape and then angels come calling you back to where you were held captive. So, he changed his name to Patricius, which means father figure in Latin, because he was now convinced, he should convert the Irish to Christianity. So, I suppose he shortened the name to Patrick as to make it easier for the Irish to pronounce.

Here is another fun fact, most Irish practiced a nature-based Pagan religion, Irish Paganism. What is this you ask? Yea I did to, so I looked it up. They essentially honor the land along with nature. They have Druids, which are wizards, and believe in fairies and elves. They follow tree calendar that coincides with the moon. Another of topic fun fact is that Irish Paganism or Celtic Paganism used Ogham as their written language, and I have an Ogham tattoo that says strength.

Now, Patrick was going to convert these people to Christianity, but he wasn’t facing an uphill battle alone. Christianity had already found its way to the island, so he had backers with him. It is also said that the Irish were not always objective to change but they would more merge the two beliefs and outsiders would leave believing in the Irish way along with their given beliefs. So, I guess that shows we Irish don’t want to change you just make you better…

So back to St. Patrick, this guy ran around Ireland converting the Irish to believe in Christianity and well he was quite liked. He went as far as putting the sun into the center of the cross, which we know as the Celtic cross to incorporate their earthly beliefs into Christianity. He knew how to get them to follow along. In fact, he was only considered a saint by public demand as at that time the catholic church did not canonize.

We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 because that was when Patrick died, March 17 460 A.D. Of course, this was originally only celebrated in Ireland as a religious holiday where they would solemnly remember St. Patrick by attending church. Another interesting fact the original color St. Patrick was associated with was Blue not Green. My whole life celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is a lie, I think. Now let’s talk about St. Patrick’s Day coming to America.

Boston claims they held the fist St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737 but historians believe that St. Augustine may have blasted cannons off in the 1600 due to an Irish Priest who lived there and memorialized the death of St Patrick. So, lets battle that one out Bostonian's and Floridians, we can overshadow the fact Brady wants to leave the Patriots and talk he will join the Bucs. But how did New York get to be part of the parade tradition? Well it seems some Irish born soldiers serving with the British Army marched their happy leprechaun butts down to a local tavern for a feast on March 17. Well the Catholics didn’t much approve of this act and began showing up on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day with sculptures they made strewn with rags, potato necklaces and whiskey bottles. I really think this is kind of neat but see how it could be interpreted as discrimination back then. But awesome idea for next years party!

Now, the Catholics did this every year, but it never stopped the Irish born men from marching to the tavern for a feast, but in 1803, that ST. Patrick’s Day Eve tradition was banned, guess the people decided enough was enough. It wasn’t until 1845 when the potato famine hit Ireland hard that the Irish Catholics migrated to New York and started supporting the morning walk on March 17 to the tavern to hold onto their Irish backgrounds and identities. Well their feast which was ham and cabbage in Ireland became Corned Beef and Cabbage because it was more affordable in the Americas. And there we have the Americanized Corn Beef and Cabbage feast fact!

Last fact, we Americans brought the party to Ireland. As much as I love my Irish heritage take that Ireland, we showed you how to party. Then again, we also took a solemn holiday and made it s drinking party. Not so sure we should brag about that. But none the less America slowly converted the Irish celebration into a feast of Soda Bread, Corn Beef and Cabbage and Colcannon with a shot of Irish Whiskey. We took Irish folklore of leprechauns and the mythical four-leaf clover and included that into the festivities because well we are American and way over the top. So, there is a quick trip down blarney lane to learn about St. Patrick’s Day. For the historians or know it all’s reading this. I read several articles, researched things and this is MY interpretation of fin facts I had no idea about. So, enjoy and drink responsibly today!!