Hey Guys,
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Ah yes, the day when even the most Italian, Greek, and Portuguese of us put on our green shirts and silly leprechaun buttons in a display of our “Irishness.”
St. Patrick’s day is the feast day of Ireland’s patron saint, and just as the legends of the man himself have grown over the years, so has the celebration of his feast day. The figure of St. Patrick, though celebrated, is often shrouded in mystery as not many people know very much about his life. For example…
Was St. Patrick Irish? Seems like an easy one right? Well if you said yes… you would be wrong. St. Patrick was actually born in England and did not go to Ireland until being captured by Irish pirates; he spent six years as a slave in Ireland before escaping back to England.
Did he drive the snakes out of Ireland? No, but don’t worry all you ophidiophobes, Ireland is snake free… not the best climate for them.
Did he explain the trinity using the clover? Sorry again… it’s a nice story, but probably just that.
Surprising to many, the first St. Patrick’s day parade took place not in Ireland, but in New York City in 1762. It was an opportunity for soldiers serving in the British army to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as do something fun that their British masters really didn’t want them to do! In Ireland, the day is observed more so as a religious holiday to most, rather than a day of parades, parties, and revelry.
Today, during St. Patrick’s, which takes place during the season of lent, dietary restricting against meat are lifted by the Pope for the Irish in for the Irish to celebrate with their traditional corn beef. (Yuck!)
So to all you Irishmen out there, and even to you part time patrons of the Emerald Isle, Happy St. Patrick’s day.
Éirinn go brách!
Drunk drivers and corn beef and cabbage, hooray for st. patrick's day!
ReplyDeleteI had a pretty heated argument in my advisory today about how it's not a holiday. My point was that no one knows anything about him and don't know why they celebrate the holiday. I believe that once you get to a certain age, you should learn why you do things. All people think St. Patrick's day is is a day to wear a lot of green and eat cabbage. I mean no disrespect to the Irish. By the way, I won that argument in a landslide.
ReplyDeleteHappy fake holiday,
-Brandon
Some may not agree with St. Patrick's Day, but is it any less of a holiday than April Fool's Day? Or President's Day? Or Victory Day? I could bet that at least half of Rhode Islanders don't know why we celebrate Victory Day, which by the way is a state holiday. So if Victory Day is a holiday, then I suppose that it's alright for me to wear shamrocks and eat my shepherd's pie in peace.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Victory Day is the day celebrating Japan's surrender to the U.S. at the end of WWII. It's celebrated the second Monday in August.
Personally, I am not one bit Irish. However, I do love St. Patrick's Day. I don't know whether it is the amount of green, one of my favorite colors, or the "Leprechaun" movie re-runs on the SyFy channel, but I do enjoy St. Patrick's Day. It is probably because of the joyful mood every seems to be in. Sure, like Brandon said, it may not be considered a holiday by all, but it is a day to celebrate one's Irish heritage.
ReplyDelete-Jake M.
These are some interesting facts about St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day! I never knew that the first St. Patrick's Day parade was not even celebrated in Ireland. I think that St. Patrick's Day is a fun holiday for everybody, even if they are not Irish. Just dressing up in green for the day and eating Irish foods is fun and is a time for all people to celebrate the Irish. It's just a fun holiday!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cool that you told us the history of St. Patricks Day in class because to be honest I really didnt know anything about it before that. The holiday is cool...do I thinks its necessary...nope but still its fun and makes people happy. I mean who dosent like seeing the outfitts some people come up with?!
ReplyDeletethere are many American holidays that just don't make sense but we still celebrate them and have fun and enjoy ourselves so why not do the same for St.Patrick's day. I don't think a lot of people really care about the history of St.Patrick's Day but just celebrate it because they have fun.
ReplyDelete-saman