St Patrick's Day History

[poetstorm]

The holiday we celebrate today on March 17th has become a day to be Irish, even if you’re not. But it wasn’t always that way. In fact the history behind this well loved holiday brings us all the way back to ancient history.

 

March 17th 461 A.D. is the day that St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland died. Oddly enough, he was not born in Ireland but most likely in Romanized England in the latter half of the fourth century A.D. His real name was not Patrick. It may have been Maewyn Succat, however Patricius (Patrick) was his Romanized name. He was kidnapped as a young boy by a band of pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland.

 

After living as a slave there for 6 years, he claimed he dreamed of seeing God and felt guided to escape on a ship back to England, which he did. He joined a monastery in France and studied for 12 years, whe he was struck by another dream of the Irish pleading for him to come back and tell them about God. He wrote about this dream in one of the few writings we have from him called the “Confessio”.

 

Here is a link to a translation:

http://www.cin.org/patrick.html

 

So Patricius went back to Ireland with the Pope’s blessing where he became quite successful in converting the Gaelic people to Christianity, however this angered the Druids who held a lot of power bak then and they did their best to thwart him. His mission lasted for 20 years.

 

St. Patrick helped to set up monasteries, schools, and churches. And by the end of the seventh century he had become legendary. There are many legends that have been passed down about St. Patricl. He was said to have used a three leaf clover to explain the concept of the trinity, which is one reason why the clover is featured so widely on St. Patrick’s Day. He is also attributed with chasing all of Ireland’s venomous snakes into the sea.

 

March 17th was originally supposed to be a Catholic holy day to celebrate the “unified baptism of Ireland” But it has evolved into more than that just as the legends concerning the man have blended into the factual history. It has all combined to form a cultural tapestry that has spread as the Irish immigrated and traveled to other areas.

 

So, what do you know about St. Patrick’s Day?

 

Here’s a trivia question for you, which I’ll answer later. Are all the symbols associated with the holiday rooted in Christianity like the three leafed clover is supposed to be?

 

EDIT: Here’s more history for you!

 

St. Patrick’s Day History Part 2 – Symbols

 

It seems that quite often Christian holidays and symbols have their roots in older pagan traditions that were blended into the new religion to ease conversion. Our Christmas trees can be traced back not to the birth of Christ (which was supposedly in June anyway), but to the celebration of Yule. Any culture or religion wishing to spread and take over other lands will tend to integrate some of the main cultural staples as their own.

 

This is the case with the three leaf clover. After St. Patrick the clover became a symbol of the Christian Trinity. Before that however it was considered a symbol of the triple goddess Brigit.

 

Nowadays the Leprechaun has also become a symbol of the Irish. When I was a little girl I was told on St. Patrick’s Day, that if you found a leprechaun he would give you his pot of gold on this day for the asking if you were Irish. It’s a little piece of local folklore but you can see the wee leprechauns and their pot of gold on most Irish bars and it has become a symbol in and of itself. However this is a mythical creature related to the Irish faerie and not a Christian symbol at all.

 

And lastly we have the harp which has long been a symbol of Ireland and can be traced back to the days when bards would perform for kings.

 

 

History Part 3: The orange and the green:

 

Much has changed from the days when the celebration of St, Patrick was to celebrate a unified baptism of Ireland. Due to British rule and the influence of Protestantism they brought, Ireland is divided culturally between predominately Catholic southern Ireland and predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland. The Catholic south took upon themselves the color green, most likely for clovers, the symbol of the trinity from St. Patrick. The North took on the symbolic color orange. This is why the Irish flag is green, orange, and white. The white symbolizes the peace between the two factions.

 

This is why there is a tradition that anyone wearing orange can be pinched on St, Patrick’s Day. It is a color in opposition to what St. Patrick’s Day stands for and I can imagine back in older times there might have been more than a pinch involved. This is also one of the reasons people wear green.

 

 

History Part 4: The holiday as it is now:

 

Though I have not been able to find a clear explanation, I think in part the conversion from a Catholic holiday to a more general one might be in part due to the division of Ireland as well as Irish emigrations. Over time as celebration of the holiday spread to different lands it changed much like playing telephone as a child. Not to mention that in the new world of America there was more reason for Irish people not to divide themselves by religion but to stand together in strength. My theory is that St. Patrick’s Day became more general first here in the U.S. where Irish immigrants from the potato famine struggled against discrimination and it was a chance to band together and renew their national pride.

 

Today people listen to Irish music, frequent bars, party, march in parades, and have a good time celebrating the rich heritage. The most traditional dish to eat is corned beef and cabbage along with some Irish soda bread. People wear as much green as they can find and some pretend to talk in an Irish brogue.

 

It is mainly a holiday for adults but as a kid we had some special aspects brought to us from our relatives in Ireland. I remember getting up earliy in the morning to find chocolate filled gold coins hidden by the “leprechauns” (aka my mother) and then running off into the woods to see if I could see one before school. :D

 

All in all it is much more a fun holiday than a serious one nowadays but if you look deeply enough you can still see the beautiful tapestry of history, folklore, and symbolism interwoven within it. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

[Kathleen]

Wow, great info here! I had heard about it before, but I forgot almost off of that! I don't know the answer to you're question though..I wonder what caused this day to become what it is, and what is the new tradition?

[Alexander]

The four leaf clover, was originally used as charms by the local druids and celtic warrior's and was said to bring "luck", the three leafed clover was an evan luckier charm according to some questionable celtic documents.

 

The "snakes" during this time, was a devout order of local druids which held sway over a majority of Ireland.

 

Apart from that all other symbols of the day are rooted in Christianity. That is to the best of my knowledge, unless there are some texts I have missed regarding the holiday.

 

Nice idea Poetstorm!

[poetstorm]

Wow, great info here! I had heard about it before, but I forgot almost off of that! I don't know the answer to you're question though..I wonder what caused this day to become what it is, and what is the new tradition?

Thanks! ^-^ Irish history is a personal love of mine. There’s more info below!

 

 

The four leaf clover, was originally used as charms by the local druids and celtic warrior's and was said to bring "luck", the three leafed clover was an evan luckier charm according to some questionable celtic documents.

 

The "snakes" during this time, was a devout order of local druids which held sway over a majority of Ireland.

 

Apart from that all other symbols of the day are rooted in Christianity. That is to the best of my knowledge, unless there are some texts I have missed regarding the holiday.

 

Nice idea Poetstorm!

Thanks, but I can’t take credit for the idea. I’m just helping out the Greens. ^^ Nice info personhood! I didn’t know about the snakes connecting to the Druids at all.

Anyway here’s more history for you. I figured I would stagger it a bit so there’s always something new. :D

 

St. Patrick’s Day History Part 2 – Symbols

 

It seems that quite often Christian holidays and symbols have their roots in older pagan traditions that were blended into the new religion to ease conversion. Our Christmas trees can be traced back not to the birth of Christ (which was supposedly in June anyway), but to the celebration of Yule. Any culture or religion wishing to spread and take over other lands will tend to integrate some of the main cultural staples as their own.

 

This is the case with the three leaf clover. After St. Patrick the clover became a symbol of the Christian Trinity. Before that however it was considered a symbol of the triple goddess Brigit.

 

Nowadays the Leprechaun has also become a symbol of the Irish. When I was a little girl I was told on St. Patrick’s Day, that if you found a leprechaun he would give you his pot of gold on this day for the asking if you were Irish. It’s a little piece of local folklore but you can see the wee leprechauns and their pot of gold on most Irish bars and it has become a symbol in and of itself. However this is a mythical creature related to the Irish faerie and not a Christian symbol at all.

 

And lastly we have the harp which has long been a symbol of Ireland and can be traced back to the days when bards would perform for kings.

 

 

History Part 3: The orange and the green:

 

Much has changed from the days when the celebration of St, Patrick was to celebrate a unified baptism of Ireland. Due to British rule and the influence of Protestantism they brought, Ireland is divided culturally between predominately Catholic southern Ireland and predominantly Protestant Northern Ireland. The Catholic south took upon themselves the color green, most likely for clovers, the symbol of the trinity from St. Patrick. The North took on the symbolic color orange. This is why the Irish flag is green, orange, and white. The white symbolizes the peace between the two factions.

 

This is why there is a tradition that anyone wearing orange can be pinched on St, Patrick’s Day. It is a color in opposition to what St. Patrick’s Day stands for and I can imagine back in older times there might have been more than a pinch involved. This is also one of the reasons people wear green.

 

 

History Part 4: The holiday as it is now:

 

Though I have not been able to find a clear explanation, I think in part the conversion from a Catholic holiday to a more general one might be in part due to the division of Ireland as well as Irish emigrations. Over time as celebration of the holiday spread to different lands it changed much like playing telephone as a child. Not to mention that in the new world of America there was more reason for Irish people not to divide themselves by religion but to stand together in strength. My theory is that St. Patrick’s Day became more general first here in the U.S. where Irish immigrants from the potato famine struggled against discrimination and it was a chance to band together and renew their national pride.

 

Today people listen to Irish music, frequent bars, party, march in parades, and have a good time celebrating the rich heritage. The most traditional dish to eat is corned beef and cabbage along with some Irish soda bread. People wear as much green as they can find and some pretend to talk in an Irish brogue.

 

It is mainly a holiday for adults but as a kid we had some special aspects brought to us from our relatives in Ireland. I remember getting up earliy in the morning to find chocolate filled gold coins hidden by the “leprechauns” (aka my mother) and then running off into the woods to see if I could see one before school. :D

 

All in all it is much more a fun holiday than a serious one nowadays but if you look deeply enough you can still see the beautiful tapestry of history, folklore, and symbolism interwoven within it. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

[Alexander]

Nice way to present some information Poetstorm, too many people just go along with a holiday without knowing the "why". Perhaps you could add a insight into the druids of Ireland and British isles, it would certainly be an interesting topic, and probably shock a few people.

[hotpocket2006]

Wow I never really knew this much at St. Patrick's Day. Thank you Poet for all the wonderful information! I also never knew you were supposed to pinch someone for wearing orange, I just thought it was for not wearing green.