Ever wonder why we celebrate leprechauns, shamrocks, the color green, and Irish culture in general on St. Patrick’s Day? Ever wonder why we even celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the first place? In this article, I’ll be explaining who Saint Patrick was, the origin of St. Patrick’s Day, how it became popularized, and the cultural impact of St. Patrick’s Day.

Who was St. Patrick?:

Saint Patrick was a Christian saint who was born in the late 4th century in Britain. At the age of sixteen, he was captured by Irish raiders and became a slave. Many historians think he had to herd sheep while he was there. After six years, he escaped Ireland and went back to Britain. In 432 A.D., many years after escaping Ireland, Saint Patrick returned there after having a vivid dream of God calling him to return to Ireland. When he returned, he spread his faith in Christianity by establishing churches and schools all over Ireland.

Origin:

Saint Patrick died on March 17th, 461 A.D. To celebrate his legacy, people in Ireland would involve themselves in church services and have feasts with their families. Back then, many people didn’t celebrate it and almost no one knew it was even a holiday.

Popularity:

When Irish immigrants came to America, they were often discriminated against for being Catholic and were often portrayed in media as subhuman, drunk criminals. To fight against the discrimination, Irish immigrants held St. Patrick’s Day parades in popular cities like Boston and New York City. Chicago also started dyeing the Chicago River green to spread Irish pride. St. Patrick’s Day was also Americanized by focusing on celebration, food, and the color green.

Cultural Impact:

Over hundreds of years, St. Patrick’s Day went from a quiet religious holiday to a global celebration. St. Patrick’s Day helped reduce the discrimination towards Irish immigrants, became an extremely popular holiday, and helped spread awareness of overall Irish culture. It has also developed many symbols over the years. For example, the shamrock became an icon of St. Patrick’s Day because people say when Saint Patrick was alive, he used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity to people in Ireland. The color green also represents St. Patrick’s Day because the color that represented the holiday used to be blue. This was because blue was an important color in Irish mythology and the first depictions of Saint Patrick showed him wearing blue robes. But in 1798, the Irish Rebellion occurred, and the Irishmen wore green to represent Irish nationalism and rebellion against the British crown.

Fun Facts:

• Leprechauns represent St. Patrick’s Day because they’re iconic figures in Irish folklore.
• Irish legends say that Saint Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland using a wooden staff. This was a myth, however, because snakes have not lived on the island since the Ice Age.
• Saint Patrick’s name wasn’t Patrick, it was Maewyn Succat. Patrick was an adopted name.
• On St. Patrick’s Day there is a tradition where people pinch anybody who isn’t wearing green because it’s believed that wearing green would make you invisible to Leprechauns. People believed that pinching people would turn them invisible to the Leprechauns if they weren’t wearing green.