St. Patrick’s Day, also known as Paddy’s Day or Lá Fhéile Pádraig in Irish, is celebrated across the world every year on the 17th of March to commemorate the day of St. Patrick’s death.
Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century and was later kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped, but eventually returned to Ireland and is credited with bringing Christianity to the country and its people. During his life, St. Patrick became a priest founding schools, churches and monasteries throughout the county before his death on March 17th, 461 A.D.
In the centuries following his death, many legends were created about St. Patrick and the mythology surrounding his life has become weaved into Irish culture. The most well-known stories surrounding the legend of St. Patrick are that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland and explained the Holy Trinity using the three leaves of the native Irish clover, the Shamrock. The Shamrock has gone on to become the national symbol of Ireland since the 18th century and the custom of wearing it on St. Patricks day is still observed by many today.
Fun fact: Many people believe the national colour of Ireland is green, however, this is actually not correct. Although blue is technically the official colour of Ireland, after the Irish Rebellion of 1798 green became associated with Ireland to help differentiate the soldier’s uniforms from the various blues and reds of England, Scotland and Wales. It has remained this way since and now the colour green is seen as the de-facto colour of the Emerald Isle.
Wishing you all a safe & happy St. Patricks Day!
