by Aine Moriarty
For most people of today St. Patrick’s Day is that one day in March when everyone wears something green. For the smaller kids, there might be leprechauns, gold, and rainbows involved. But there’s more than that. There are traditions’ roots to consider, as well as the titular St. Patrick.
St. Patrick was a Christian missionary in the 5th century (and no, he actually wasn’t Irish). According to the Declaration, which was allegedly his autobiography, he was born in Roman Britain. At 16 he was captured by slave traders and sent to Ireland. During the six years he worked as a shepherd, he “found God” and managed to return home to become a priest. Traditionally, he returned to Ireland to convert the Pagan Irish to Christianity. He died on March 17th.
So that’s a little about St. Patrick, but what about the traditions? Well, it’s believed that St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish. This eventually lead to the wearing green we see today. People used to wear shamrocks on their clothes during St. Patrick’s Day. At the end of the day, they would “drown the shamrock”; that is, dropping a shamrock into a glass of whiskey before drinking it.
Speaking of whiskey, alcohol was commonly consumed during the holiday. Christian restrictions on alcohol and food would be lifted for the day. Nowadays, this translates into copious amounts of drinking.
There are some traditions that are celebrated for tradition’s sake. However, even those have some sort of reason. Quite a few cities dye bodies of water green in reference to the shamrock, including Chicago, Indianapolis, Savannah, Jamestown, and Columbia. Parades are held in almost every state. Multiple sports teams incorporate green into their uniforms during the holiday.
Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations may be a bit ambiguous, but they definitely have a rich history behind them.