Irish Holidays

St. Patrick's Day: The greatest of Irish holidays

Of all Irish holidays, the most well known is probably St. Patrick's Day, but what you probably don't know is the history and irony behind this Irish holiday.

Although most of the facts regarding his life have been obscured by legend, these are essentially the historic facts regarding the man behind the most famous of irish holidays. St. Patrick was a Christian missionary, born into a Christian family of Roman citizenship. At the young age of 16, he was captured by Irish marauders and enslaved. He worked for 6 years until he escaped and set out for Gaul. He then entered the monastery at Lerins and received the tonsure. After receiving a calling to Christianize Ireland, Patrick returned to Europe to perfect himself as a missionary and was consecrated as the missionary bishop to Ireland in 432 B.C. He landed near Saul in 432 B.C. and by began to convert tribes one by one. By the time of his death in 457 B.C., he had Christianized almost all of Ireland. Saint Patrick was buried in Downpatrick and was also enshrined in Croaghpatrick.

The Irish have since celebrated the day of Patrick's death by drinking and feasting on traditional Irish food of cabbage and bacon. The ironic side to St. Patrick's Day is that the very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not held in Ireland but in the United States. American soldiers of Irish decent paraded through the streets of New York on March 17, 1762. The signature parade of the greatest of Irish holidays was not a product of the country of origin but from the descendants looking for a way to bond with each other in a foreign land. St. Patrick's Day was originally a religious holiday which began with morning service at church followed by drink and feast. Because of this, pubs in Ireland were to remain closed on St. Patrick's Day until 1995, when the Irish government decided to use the day as a means of increasing tourism and showcasing Ireland to the world. St. Patrick's Day is now celebrated all over the world, including a multi-day festival in Ireland, and remains as the largest and most recognized of Irish holidays.