Toss on your green hats, fire up the grills and get ready to dance because Saint Patrick’s Day is around the corner.
Saint Patrick’s Day is a holiday held yearly on March 17. But what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday?
The history of Saint Patrick’s Day goes back far, over 1000 years ago, in fact. Saint Patrick’s Day celebrates the person it’s named after, St. Patrick.
According to history.com, St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. Surprisingly, he is not of Irish descent but Roman. At the age of 16, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland, during which he turned to his religion for survival.
After escaping from his captivity and returning to Britain, he began religious training to later return to Ireland as a missionary. It would take him 15 years of training before he eventually returned to Ireland
Because he had spent six years there before, Patrick was already familiar with the Irish language and customs. This allowed him to use traditional Irish rituals in his teachings instead of trying to completely eliminate their native beliefs.
Throughout his missionary life, he converted thousands and created many Christian communities throughout Ireland. His most well-known accomplishment was teaching the Holy Trinity using a Shamrock, the native clover of the Irish. St. Patrick is believed to have passed away on March 17, approximately 460 AD.
Saint Patrick’s Day commemorates St. Patrick while also celebrating the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and Irish culture. The Irish have celebrated this day since soon after his death, but it was not celebrated here in America until about the 1600s.
The first recorded celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day was a parade in present-day Florida. The next recorded celebration would come more than 100 years later when Irish soldiers felt homesick and marched in New York. Celebrations for the holiday have only increased since then.
In the present day, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide in places such as Japan, Russia, Singapore, the United States, and, of course, Ireland.
