The History of Saint Patrick’s Day

Many people hear and celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day every year without knowing the true reason how it came to be. The holiday started as a 17th century religious day to honor the patron saint of Ireland because he brought Christianity to the Pagan people. St. Patrick himself was a 5th century missionary who became enslaved and taken to Ireland. He eventually escaped but then felt called to return to convert the people there which ended up being successful. Eventually, the church made March 17th a feast day in 1631 to break Lenten fasting. 

One big misconception about celebrating St. Patrick's day was that it was all mainly in Ireland; but, in 1601 in modern day Florida, was the first recorded St. Patrick's celebration parade held by the Spanish colonists present. In 1762, Irish and British soldiers also celebrated in a parade as well by marching down the streets. For Ireland themselves, its first parade wasn’t until 1931 and the day is typically celebrated by church and festivities during the day. In fact, this holiday was mainly religious up until the mid-20th century. 

There are also many common traditions today. One of the more famous ones is wearing green in order to avoid getting pinched. Originally, the color was blue but green became increasingly popular because of the Irish flag and nationalism. Another common tradition is searching for a four-leaf clover. According to old legends, St. Patrick used these to explain the Holy Trinity to non-belivers. Lastly, another popular custom is drinking a lot of alcohol because legends say that Saint Patrick caused a demon to leave a person by drinking a lot. 

Overall, even though this holiday originated from Ireland, its presence in the United States is undeniable. The United States had a lot of Irish immigrants and with these people came their traditions and it stuck ever since. Saint Patrick’s day became a symbolic global celebration of Irish culture.

Image Courtesy of Public Domain.