Every year on March 17, people celebrate the religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland, known as Saint Patrick. Although most people around the world just celebrate by drinking and wearing green, there is much more of a story behind the holiday that is now celebrated everywhere.
To begin with, Saint Patrick wasn’t actually born in Ireland; he was born in England which at the time was part of the Roman Empire. When he was 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and spent six years in captivity. He then converted to Christianity and returned to Ireland to spend his life working as a Christian missionary. Saint Patrick was largely forgotten after his death on March 17, 461.
As mythology and legends grew and spread through the land, he was honored and recognized as the patron saint of Ireland centuries later. It is a known fact to some people that there are no snakes that inhabit Ireland. According to a mythological story, Saint Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland symbolizing him cleansing the island of Paganism. Another famous legend tells that Patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. As a result of this story, people in 18th century Ireland started wearing shamrocks on March 17th to signify their Irish Christian pride. This tradition then grew into wearing green on March 17 which is now a popular St. Patrick’s Day custom. Although green is the color now, the original color associated with Saint Patrick was actually blue. The color was changed to green to symbolize the trees and mountains that make up the landscape of Ireland.
The history of St. Patrick’s Day is actually more interesting than most people realize. Many people just recognize this as a holiday to go to bars and drink a lot because that is how they perceive Irish people. Whatever the case may be, however you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year should be fun, safe, and hopefully doesn’t involve being pinched for not wearing green.