History corner: St. Patrick’s Day

Parisa Amini

The Irish have observed St. Patrick’s Day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years, but few know the Saint in which the holiday has its name sake, and the generations of celebrated traditions.
Not much is known of Saint Patrick, with only two authentic letters that survive him.
As a teen, he was kidnapped by Irish soldiers and made a slave, where he lived for six more years before escaping and returning to his family in Britain.
After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission-to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. While this is known to be true, there is no contemporary evidence.
By the eighth century he had come to be revered as a patron saint of Ireland, and is the one most commonly recognized.
Little is known of Patrick’s death, but according to the latest reconstruction of the old Irish annals, he died in AD 460 on March 17, a date accepted by some modern historians.
Many myths surround the idea of the saint. Legend has it that Patrick taught the Irish about the Holy Trinity by showing them the shamrock, a three-leaved clover. He used it to emphasize the Christian belief of the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Ireland celebrates the patron saint with a feast day on the anniversary of his death. Although it falls in the Christian season of Lent, prohibitions against meat consumption were waived and people would dance, sing and feast.
The traditional meal to celebrate with was corn beef and cabbage.
According to the History Channel’s website, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade ever held was not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through NYC on March 17, 1762.
The parade has grown into the world’s oldest civilian parade; the largest in the US with over 150,000 participants.
Throughout the world, people also celebrated “St. Paddy’s Day” by drinking green beer, wearing green clothing and pinching those who don’t, usually in affection.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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