As I stood among a crowd of green clad, overly happy bar patrons drinking "green" beer with everyone else, on Thursday night, I started to wonder, why is St. Patricks Day so popular? In fact, why is St. Patricks Day even significant?? Yes, its a great reason to leave work early and drink. When i was younger, I left it at that but now that I am older and wiser or at least attempting to become wiser, I want to know, how this tradition started.
In researching this question, I got more than I bargained for! So grab another green beer and read on.
While most people use St. Patricks Day to drink obscene amounts of alcohol on a school night, some still celebrate its intended meaning; St. Patrick's Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide. In fact, it's a National Holiday in Ireland.
National Flower of Ireland
As the patron Saint of Ireland, he is responsible for bringing and spreading Christianty throughout Ireland much to the schegrin of the Celts and the British! It is said that in explaining Christianity to the people of Ireland, he used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. Today the Shamrock is the National Flower of Ireland.
There is also a story of how St. Patrick was known for driving snakes out of Ireland. No snakes were native to Irleand to begin with so this is Irish folklore and most likely a reference to riding Ireland of pagan religious symbols using serpents.
The world celebrates St. Patricks Day on march 17th which is supposedly the day St. Patrick died in 460 A.D.
Religious Refuge
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston. However, St. Patricks Day is most likely popular in this country because of the 3.5 million Irish immigrants that passed through Ellis Island between 1820-1880. Why did so many come to the U.S.? Because of the persecution and oppression of the Catholic Irish by their Protestant British rulers.
Clearly, St. Patricks Day has an interesting origin however, it's unclear exactly how a Catholic Holiday turned into a booze fest. But I guess, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. People absolutely love St. Patricks Day and love to celebrate anything Irish.
Until next year, Erin Go Bragh!