Fun Fact - St. Patrick's Day History

 

How much do you know about the patron saint of Ireland?

I manage the monthly newsletter for a company, and I am always looking for fun and interesting things to include. This month, I decided to share what I learned about the history of St. Patrick's Day and thought my readers may find it just as interesting. 

Yep… that was my response as well! So, I thought it would be fun to share a few things I learned about the history of the fun day we all know as “St. Patty’s Day”. Every March 17th everywhere becomes an emerald color for a day. Everyone wears green clothes (for fear of getting pinched… remember that from elementary school), and some drink green beer. Did you know, in a leprechaun-worthy shenanigan, even Chicago dyes its river green? It’s true because I found it on the internet. :)

Okay, here’s the scoop. Enjoy!

Revelers from coast to coast celebrate all things Irish by hoisting pints of Guinness and cheering bagpipers, step dancers and marching bands parading through city streets. These familiar annual traditions weren’t actually imported from Ireland; however, they were made in America (according to the History Channel).

For several centuries, March 17 was a day of solemnity in Ireland with Catholics attending church in the morning and partaking of modest feasts in the afternoon. There were no parades and certainly no emerald-tinted food products or rivers, particularly since blue, not green, was the traditional color associated with Ireland’s patron saint prior to the 1798 Irish Rebellion.

From what I can find by research, the man for whom St. Patrick’s Day is named was born into an aristocratic family in Roman Britain around the end of the fourth century. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland, where he was held as a slave for a number of years. He eventually escaped the island, only to return later as a missionary because he believed he had been called by God to Christianize Ireland. He joined the Catholic Church and studied for 15 years before being consecrated as the church’s second missionary to Ireland. Patrick began his mission to Ireland in 432, and by his death in 461, the island was almost entirely Christian. Centuries after his death, which some sources cite as March 17, 461, Patrick became the patron saint of Ireland, and March 17 became a hold day of obligation for the nation’s Catholics.

Thanks to Irish immigrants in the U.S. and elsewhere, St. Patrick’s Day evolved from a religious holiday into a secular celebration of all things Irish. Records read that the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in New York City in the 1760’s (believe it was 1762), by Irishmen serving there in the British military who became homesick. 

 

Thus, how St. Patrick’s Day evolved in the U.S.

Irish Prayer

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rain fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

 I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did research and learning more about the history of it. 

🍀 Never iron a four-leaf clover, you don’t want to press your luck🍀

 Make memories and make today count for today will never come again. GO! Be the awesome person God designed you to be! Have a blessed day! 

Blessings,

Candye~

"G18 Mommy"

"...the battle is the Lord's" (I Samuel 17:47)