St. Patrick's  Day,

also known as Feast of Saint Patrick (irish:Lá Fhéile Pádraig), is celebrated as a religious and cultural holiday on March 17 annually in Ireland, but it's also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.

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History

St. Patrick

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St. Patrick of Ireland (387 – 461 A.D.) was born in Bannaven Taburniae/Roman Britain to Calpurnius (a deacon) and his wife Conchessa. At age 16 he was taken captive by by Irish raiders and taken to Gaelic Ireland, where he was enslaved and held captive for six years. He worked as a shepherd for his master in these years. During his exile he turned to God. As written by himself in the Declaration, God told him in a dream to make his escape and that “his ship was ready” and that it was two hundred miles away. He found the ship and after several adventures finally returned home to his family. Now in his early twenties,  Patrick continued to study Christianity.
He studied for the priesthood, was ordained a bishop, and was sent to Ireland as Christian missionary to convert the Pagan Irish to Christianity. He arrived there on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, 433 at Slane. According to the Declaration  he spent many years evangelizing in the northern half of Ireland and converted and baptized thousands, founding monasteries, dioceses and churches, as well as ordaining priests and nuns.
He died on March 17th, 461 A.D. and is buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has never been proven.  Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland's foremost saint.

Shamrock

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According to Legend (dating to 1726, though it may be older) St. Patrick used the shamrock,  a three-leaved plant, to illustrate the Christian teaching of three persons in one God while teaching the Holy Trinity to the Pagan Irish. In Pagan Ireland, the shamrock had been seen as sacred in the pre-Christian days due its green color and overall shape. It was seen as representation of rebirth and eternal life. Three was not only a significant, but also a sacred number in the pagan religion and there were many triple deities in ancient Ireland, including Brigid, Ériu and the Morrigan. The triple spiral symbol appears at many ancient megalithic sites in Ireland. Due to all these reasons, shamrocks are a central symbol for St Patrick's Day.

Green

The colour green has been associated with Ireland since at least the 1640s because of the Green Harp Flag used by the Irish Catholic Conderation. Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on St Patrick's Day since at least the 1680s. However, the 1783 founded Order of St. Patrick adopted blue as its colour, which led to blue being associated with St Patrick. During the 1790s, green became associated with Irish nationalism when it was used by the United Irishmen. The phrase "wearing of the green" comes from a song of the same name, which laments United Irishmen supporters being persecuted for wearing green. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's Day grew.

Snakes

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Legend says St. Patrick banished  all snakes from Ireland, chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. However, all evidence suggests that Ireland never had snakes, so there was nothing for St. Patrick to banish. The only biological candidate species for appearing like a native snake in Ireland is the slow worm, which is actually a legless lizard. But because of his association with snakes, St. Patrick is associated with the deity Damballa in Voodoo.

Leprechaun

 
A Leprechaun (Irish: leipreachán)  is a type of fairy, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology. It is believed that they are merry, industrious, grumpy, untrustworthy and very tricky elves, who do all the shoemaker's work for the fairies and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They are often seen at sunset under the hedge singing and stitching.
According to legend, you can track down a Leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker's hammer. If ever captured by a human, the Leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release or you can force him to tell the whereabouts of his Pot of Gold. However, be careful! You must keep your eye on him every second. Otherwise the Leprechaun will trick you and disappear.
Popular depiction shows the Leprechaun as tiny elves, no taller than a small child, with a beard and hat, although they may originally have been perceived as the tallest of the mound-dwellers (the Tuatha Dé Danann).

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Today

Celebrations

 generally involve public parades and festivals, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services, and the Lenten restriction on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption. St. Patrick is celebrated worldwide, even when it is not a legal holiday like in the USA, where is has been celebrated since the late eighteenth century.

Usually the church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. However, St. Patrick's is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This last happened in 2008, where it was officially observed on 15 March to avoid conflict with the Holy Easter Week, starting on 16th. The Vatican aka Pope Benedict XVI approved it in 2007.  Before that it happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday. However, the secular celebration is always held on 17 March.  Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.

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