This is one day of the year where we people of Irish descent let everyone else be Irish too.
In America, we celebrate with lots of beer, food and parades, as they’ve done in Ireland , finally. America had its first parades in the 1700s.
- It is believed St. Patrick, a Roman-Britain-born Christian missionary, was born in the late fourth century and is credited with bringing Christianity to the Irish people.
- It is also believed St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. However, post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes. Many believe that the term “snakes” referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids of that time and place. Today, there are no snakes to be found!
- The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City in 1762.
- Since 1762, 250,000 marchers have traipsed up Fifth Avenue on foot – the parade still doesn’t allow floats, cars, or other modern trappings.
- According to Irish legend, the St Patrick used the three-leafed plant as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when he was first introducing Christianity to Ireland.
- According to Irish legend, Saint Patrick wasn’t originally called Patrick. His birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed his name to Patricius after becoming a priest.
- Guinness sales soar on St. Patrick’s Day. On St. Patrick’s Day the average amount of Guinness that is consumed is doubled around the world.
- Since 1962, the Chicago River is dyed kelly green during the celebration. Forty tons of dye is dumped into the river which changes colour for four to five hours.
- You can’t attend a Saint Patrick’s Day event without hearing a cry of “Erin go Bragh.” What’s the phrase mean? It’s a corruption of the Irish Éirinn go Brách, which means roughly “Ireland Forever.”
- For most of the 17th century, Saint Patrick’s Day was considered a strictly religious holiday in Ireland, which meant that the nation’s pubs were closed for business on March 17. In 1970, the day was converted to a national holiday, and the stout resumed flowing.
Irish cuisine is so much more than corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, so here’s some links to websites that celebrate Irish food, as well as information about St. Patrick and Irish history and traditions.
https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day
http://www.foodfanatic.com/2013/03/st-patricks-day-2013-a-recipe-rundown/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_cuisine
An Irish Toast:
Sláinte is the basic form in Irish. Variations of this toast include sláinte mhaith “good health” in Irish (mhaith being the lenited form of maith “good”). In Irish, the response to sláinte is sláinte agatsa, which translates “to your health as well”.
Erin Go Braugh!
SFC MAC