St. Patrick's Day

Written by Lilly Hoening

Have you ever worn green on March 17th? Were you wearing it so you wouldn’t get pinched or for the history behind it? Do you know the history behind why people truly celebrate St. Patrick's Day vs. what Americans use it for?

The main background of St. Patrick’s Day is to celebrate the Roman Catholic feast day of the patron saint of Ireland. These facts are all found from https://www.gob.org/education/origin. This day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland which also celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. The people who first celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day were the people in Ireland, which would be Irish immigrants from around the 9th or 10th century.

Now that I have talked about the reason behind this special day, I now would like to share some things Americans have put into this day. American citizens have frequently turned corned beef and cabbage into a traditional centerpiece for this day's feast. According to the Irish, these foods aren't a tradition in Ireland: lamb and bacon are more common. Some more American traditions are that we tend to wear green clothes on this day to not be pinched, making green milkshakes and other foods that normally aren't green. Chicago even colors their whole river green for this day.

The Irish tend to be involved in public parades and festivals, such as Céilís, they also wear green or shamrocks. Huge crowds travel into Dublin for games of hurling, camogie, and Gaelic football. Thousands around the country watch these games and watch the finals televised live for audiences at home. Lots of smaller towns and villages like to host their own parties and celebrations. So in context, there are some differences between these two, just Americans seem to celebrate it not for the original meaning. Either way, it’s not to the point where it is disrespectful, so have a great St. Patrick’s day!

Image credit: metro.co.uk