Although St. Patrick's Day is a holiday associated with the country of Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is welcomed by people from every background, not just the Irish.
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish, but thought to have been born in Britain. No one knows for sure, but it is believed that March 17 was the date of St. Patrick's death rather than his birth. There are many legends about Saint Patrick. The most popular one is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea.
How did Saint Patrick come to be associated with Ireland? Legend has it that, as a young man of 16, St. Patrick was captured by pirates from his father's farm in Britain and kept as a slave for six years, working as a shepherd in Ulster, Ireland. After escaping back to Britain, St. Patrick devoted his life to God. He was a deeply religious man and dreamed of returning to Ireland to bring Christianity to the Irish. He did-as a monk-and is said to have established over 300 churches and baptized over 120,000 people. The historical records from that era are incomplete, but the surviving writings of St. Patrick show that he was a devout man and tireless missionary.
St. Patrick's Day has been observed in the United States and Canada since colonial days. It started as a religious holiday, when people went to church, and later it became festive as well. It is a day when the Irish show their unity by the "wearing of the green". Some people think that green became the color of St. Patrick's Day because it occurs at the beginning of spring, when all turns green. Green is also a color connected with hope and nature.
Today, major cities in at least 30 of the 50 states have St. Patrick's Day parades and celebrations. The biggest parade takes place each year in New York City. More than 200,000 marchers and spectators are on hand for the parade, which is said to have started in 1761, The center stripe down Fifth Avenue is painted green. In Chicago, which boasts the nation's largest population of Irish descent, the Chicago River is dyed green on St. Patrick's Day.
All around the country, merchants sell special green hats, buttons, flowers, shamrocks, and other wares to make a "great day for the Irish." People often celebrate this day by having corned beef and cabbage, Irish Stew, Irish soda bread, or mulligan stew-popular foods in Ireland.
The shamrock is one of the most popular symbols associated with Saint Patrick's Day. According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock in Ireland to explain the Trinity, a basic principle of the Catholic faith. The word shamrock comes from the Gaelic word seamrog, which means "trefoil" or "little clover". The shamrock is the national flower of Ireland. It appears on the coat of arms of Great Britain along with the thistle and the rose, the national flowers of England and Scotland. There is a town named Shamrock in Florida, where people send letters to be postmarked.
Use this Convenient Drop-Down Menu to Explore More St. Patrick's Day Pages
Free JavaScripts provided
by The JavaScript Source
Celebrating St. Pat's Day with my daughter, Jane!
This pot of gold was hidden by a little Leprechaun one night when I was sleeping~see if you can find it on one of the pages listed above.
Have you visited the What's New Page lately?
What's New?
All contents of this site are copyright There's No Page Like Home for the Holidays,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. All rights reserved.
Credits
Mouse Trail provided by Vikimouse
Java Script courtesy of Lissa Explains and Dynamic Drive.
Animations Courtesy of Jo's World
Last updated March 7, 2002
