St. Patrick's Day is celebrated every year on March 17. The holiday began as an Irish Catholic religious occasion celebrating the historical figure of St. Patrick, although many additional meanings and traditions have found their way into the holiday.
Character of Saint Patrick
St. Patrick is the patron Catholic saint of Ireland, credited with driving snakes from Ireland, converting the Irish heathen, and bringing Christianity to Ireland. In his own writing, St. Patrick himself describes being directed by visions to pursue religious training and minister to the Irish. He was very successful and did indeed bring about a massive shift to Christianity. As with all historic figures, there is a great deal of legend surrounding the character of St. Patrick. Very little factual information about him exists, although he is believed to have died on March 17th sometime during the 5th century.
St. Patrick's Day Shamrocks
According to legend, people say that St. Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity to the heathen he sought to convert to Catholicism. While the accuracy of this claim is doubtful, the shamrock has nevertheless become an undeniable St. Patrick's Day symbol.
Leprechauns on St. Paddy's Day
Leprechauns are traditional characters in Irish mythology and folklore. Traditionally, Leprechauns are mischievous old men who pass the time by making shoes for faeries. They are small, elusive creatures who disappear the moment a person lets them out of sight. According to tradition, if a person manages to catch a Leprechaun, he can force it to tell him the location of his hidden pot of gold. Leprechauns started to become St. Patrick's Day icons as as the holiday spread and became a global celebration of all things Irish.
Wearing Green for St. Patrick's
Nobody is sure where the long-standing tradition of wearing green or getting pinched on St. Patrick's Day really originated, but it probably came from schoolchildren. Green is an appropriate color for the Irish holiday because it is the color of shamrocks and of spring. Historically, many Irish revolutionaries used green as their color and green is even incorporated into the modern Irish national flag. Ireland is also known as the "Emerald Isle" for its lush beauty.
Ideas for Celebrating St. Patrick's Day as a Family
St. Patrick's Day offers families a lot of options for celebrating together.
- Attend a local St. Patrick's Day parade.
- Go on a scavenger hunt. Write clues written on paper shamrocks, ultimately leading to a pot of chocolate gold coins.
- Let the kids set up "Leprechaun traps" throughout the house the night before; in the morning, they can find that they traps have all been sprung but the tricky Leprechauns escaped.
- Cut out and decorate Leprechaun paper dolls or a string of paper Leprechauns.
- Go to a local thrift store and compete to find the best and most ridiculous green St. Patrick's Day outfit.
- Hold a contest for who can wear the most green at the same time.
- Eat a special meal in honor of St. Paddy's Day: traditional Irish fare like corned beef and cabbage, or maybe a dinner where every food served is green.
St. Patrick's Day is a great time for celebrating with your family and having fun. You no longer have to be Catholic or Irish to celebrate this holiday, so get creative and think of activities involving shamrocks, Leprechauns, and the color green for a fun March 17 this year.
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