The most famous date in and out of Ireland!
The 17th March, St (Saint) Patrick’s Day marks our national holiday and the day of festivals, not only in Ireland, but the world over. In this section we will tell you about St Patrick himself, what he did for Ireland, and how we celebrate his life…
Who is St Patrick?
St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland because he brought Christianity to the Irish people.
His story begins in Britain where he was born into a wealthy family around 390 AD. At 16 years old he was captured by Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish pirate, who became King of all Ireland.
He was sold into slavery in Ireland and was put to work as a shepherd. He worked in terrible conditions for six years.
Ireland was full of Druids and pagans during this era and as a slave he learned the Celtic Language spoken in Ireland at that time. During that time he also restored and drew comfort from his childhood Christian faith.
One night, six years later at aged 22, Patrick had a dream from God telling him to escape from Ireland. He travelled many miles to the coast where a ship was waiting for him to take him back to his native Britain. From there he went to France to continue his education in Christianity. He returned to England as a priest.
Patrick was made a Bishop by Pope Celestine in the year 432. He then had another dream calling him back to Ireland to spread the word of God to the Pagan Celts. He returned, now in his 30’s to help convert the Celts to Christianity.
Patrick first approached the most powerful man in Ireland Laoghaire, The High King of Tara as he knew that if he could gain his support that he would be safe to spread the word throughout Ireland. Once the King realised that Patrick had no other intention than that of spreading the word of the Gospel, the King accepted the missionary, much to the dismay of the Druids who feared for their own power and position in the face of this new threat.
Patrick and his disciples, travelled all over Ireland teaching his faith, converting clan chiefs, building churches, opening schools and monasteries and convincing many Irish to become monks and nuns. He preached all over Ireland for 40 years mostly in poverty and died in March 17, 461 aged 76.
The Shamrock
Even though the transition from Paganism to Christianity went relatively smoothly and without any wars or battles, the concept of the Christian Holy Trinity was quite difficult for the Celtic Pagans to understand.
So Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach the people of Ireland the concept of the Holy Trinity. He told the people that, just as the shamrock is one plant with three leaves, so the Holy Trinity is one God with three persons – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Hence the shamrock is now the National Emblem of Ireland.
Snakes
Saint Patrick is also famous for driving the snakes out of Ireland. This is most probably a myth as, even though there are no snakes in Ireland today, there probably never were any snakes in Ireland as it has been and island from the Ice Ages. Many pagan religions had serpent symbols, often representing the devil. Driving the snakes from Ireland, probably represents the driving out of pagan practises, the introduction to Christianity and the conversion of the Druids at Tara.
St Patrick’s Day
March 17th, St Patrick’s Day, is a public holiday in Ireland with the majority of Irish people attending mass to celebrate Saint Patrick’s life and work in Ireland. On this day people usually wear shamrocks as a sign of the teachings of the Holy Trinity. Lots of people also wear green coloured clothing and leprechaun hats.
St Patrick’s Day is also celebrated by parades across the world such as Ireland, of course, but also the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Russia and many more countries joining each year as more Irish migrate to these countries. Originally only Irish people or descendants of Irish people, wear green on this day but nowadays many other people love to join in the festivities and wear, not only something green, but all kinds of costumes representing the many cultures and legends of this magical land. The United States boasts the largest parades such as New York City St Patrick’s day parade and Chicago, where the river is dyed green, but that is only because have of them are of Irish decent anyway! In Ireland our own festivals last, not only on the 17 March, but for the full week leading up to this special day in our history.