“The History and Practices of St. Patrick’s Day”

Today is officially St. Patrick’s Day, I may decide to wear green just to honor one of the traditions of this holiday. As most of you know, if you do not wear green tomorrow, you risk getting pinched, which is another tradition of this holiday. Now, of course, due to sexual harassment concerns, your chances of getting pinched at work at probably slim; but before our awareness of political correctness, many of us grew up wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, even if we were not Catholic, so we would avoid a painful pinch. This is just one of the traditions I will be examining today as we look at this most boisterous of holidays. 
First - the colors of the Republic of Ireland and what they represent.  A tricolor of green, white, and orange. The orange supposedly represents the Protestant population, the green the Catholic, and the white the peace between them. === (let's just leave Northern Ireland out of this.) Protestants don't celebrate saint's days. So the wearing of green is a symbol of Saint Patrick's Day and then Ireland, the Emerald Isle, in general. The day as a holiday with parades, green beer etc. is more of an American tradition than Irish, and of course on St. Paddy's day everyone is Irish."  One of the reasons that one wears green on St. Patrick's Day is because the Catholic side of Ireland is identified with green, and St. Patrick is a Catholic Saint credited with converting the island to Christianity. Thus, the Protestants are identified with orange, and are often called "Orangemen", as in King William the Orange. The clashes in Ireland between the Catholics and Protestants are often clashes of the green and the orange. The irony is that the Irish flag, is supposed to represent the unity of the two with the white between the two colors representing unity.  

There are many traditions and legends surrounding St. Patrick’s Day, and though its origins are Christian, for most westerners, this is now a secular holiday. It is marked by several traditions: many people wear green…most people know it is good luck to find a shamrock … many others will drink green beer…some will spend the evening making “blarney”… some will watch for a leprechaun…and few will think of this as a religious day.

By the time St. Patrick’s Day began to be celebrated as a holiday in the American Colonies, where it was first honored in Boston in 1737, it was already long removed from its religious roots. This secularization is believed to have contributed to its rapid rise in popularity throughout all the colonies, within a very short period of time. Several hundred years earlier, it had become a symbol of Irish nationalism, as it was an Irish, and Catholic celebration, which the Protestant English rulers could never entirely stamp out. Today, there are more people of Irish descent in the U.S. than there are in Ireland, and the holiday has become even more important in this country than it is in Ireland. In fact, rather than attend St. Patrick’s Day parades in their own country, many Irish will turn on their televisions tomorrow and watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade in either Boston or New York.

So, what is the history of this holiday that has become so popular among so many that neither know nor care about its origins?

History tells us of a man, born in either Scotland or Roman England, depending on the source, sometime between 373 and 390 C.E. Most scholars believe his name was originally Maewyn, though he used the Roman name, Patricius, or Patrick. His father was a Roman soldier serving in Britain, and it was from the province of Wales that he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, at the age of 6, or 16, depending again on the source. He eventually escaped slavery and fled to Gaul (France), where he later claimed God gave him visions and called him to return to Ireland to convert the Irish from their Pagan beliefs. It is interesting to note that his family was also Pagan, worshipping a pantheon of Roman gods, yet he did not believe he was called to convert Pagans in England, but rather Ireland, the land of his captivity. So, it appears that his first exposure to Christianity was in France, the place in which he had found his freedom. Later, in his spiritual autobiography, entitled, “The Confessio,” he shared his visions and the call that God gave him to “work for the eternal salvation of the Irish people.”

Thus, upon returning to Ireland, he began to preach Christianity, and denounce the “pagan” practice of all earth-based traditions; but the Druids in particular, were the targets of his evangelistic zeal. As a result of both the political power of the Druids, and his early threats of God’s wrath toward the Druids, he was arrested repeatedly; but he escaped each time, and with each escape, became more adaptive in his methods of proselytizing. Though he continued to denounce the “paganism” of the Irish, he became extremely successful over his 30 years of itinerate preaching, because he increasingly incorporated certain rituals, myths, and beliefs of the pagans, into his Christian message. At the time of his death, he had merged many elements of Paganism and Christianity, spread this blended form of Christianity to most areas of Ireland, established monasteries, trained Irish clergy, and set up regular Church Councils. Most scholars agree that he died on March 17, 461 C.E. And, it is the date of his death that became a “holy day” in Ireland, as the nation mourned its spiritual leader. The date of March 17 then remained a holy day, until it was co-opted about 1,000 year later, as an Irish national day of pride.

But, even as a “holy” day, this was an unusual Christian holiday. This holiday was associated with a 3-leaf shamrock, which it was claimed, St. Patrick used to explain the Trinity. Yet, the 3-leaf shamrock had long been a sacred plant to the Celts, who believed it symbolized the all-encompassing power of the Goddess Brigit. She was the Goddess of healing, farming, and crafts; a sacred fire was kept burning at her temple in Kildare to honor these 3 gifts to the Irish. The 3-leaf shamrock is one of the most prodigious plants in Ireland, and what many Irish consider the reason for their lush green landscape. It was the Goddess Brigit who, after a long winter, would bring the spring and the lush of blooming shamrocks. Later, the Catholic Church claimed Brigit as a Christian saint and built a convent in Kildare over the site of her temple. At the same time they built the convent, they also established a ritual, which they called “The Day of the Christian Bonfire of the Celts.” They placed this ritual on the same day that the Druids had, for centuries, set bonfires throughout the country, in honor of the Goddess Brigit. Catholic tradition has also held that St. Brigit was to be venerated by the Irish, as Mary was throughout the rest of Europe. She was referred to as “the mystic mother and bride of St. Patrick.” Thus, upon St. Patrick’s death on March 17, when Catholics celebrated his life, they chose to also honor St. Brigit.

Another legend surrounding this holiday was that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland by prayer. As biologists the history, they found that Ireland has never had snakes as an indigenous species; today, many scholars believe this legend arose later as a symbol of Christianity driving out Paganism, and this legend appears to have been encouraged by the Catholic Church. This is, interestingly, parallel to the story that told in the book of Genesis, about the fall of the archangel who became Lucifer/the Devil/evil, and who was then driven out of the presence of God.

The leprechaun is also a symbol associated with this holiday, and it too has Pagan origins, which were amalgamated into Christian lore. The leprechaun is one of the fairies of ancient Irish mythology. He was both deeply feared and revered; feared for remaining hidden from human view, and revered for his horde of riches – a pot of gold. The leprechaun was adopted by St. Patrick as a symbol of God; One who remains hidden from view and is to be feared, and also One who has great riches for those who can “find Him.” As the Irish believed leprechauns remained hidden by blending into the beautiful green countryside, the color green has become associated, not just with the leprechaun, but all things St. Patrick.

Another well-loved part of this holiday is the drinking of beer. The Irish have long been accused of being the worlds largest consumer of beer, which, by the way is incorrect, as the Germans and the Belgians each consume more beer than the Irish. Tomorrow, however, there will be a great deal of beer consumed, not just here in the U.S., but in Ireland. In fact, there is more beer consumed in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day than there is on any other day of the year. This is also, ironically, a tradition that many scholars believe Patrick adopted from the Pagan practice of honoring Brigit with “poteen,” an Irish beer made from potatoes. Most Catholics, however, credit this high day of drinking as a way to honor St. Patrick for bring the art of distillery to Ireland.

However, in Ireland tomorrow, there will be no green beer, as the Irish in Ireland are surrounded by the symbols of green that have long been their history and culture. It was not until the Irish settled in Boston, and faced enormous discrimination, that they chose to claim Irish pride by using the color green for all things Irish. Thus began the American tradition of green beer, green hats, and the wearing of green. And by the way, the reason people began to pinch those who did not wear green on this holiday, was a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up and pinch those who could be seen on this day. In order not to be seen, one must be green as leprechauns are green. Thus, if you wear green, you remain unseen, and thus cannot be pinched.

The association of “blarney” with this holiday is unclear. However, both in Ireland, and in the Irish American communities, St. Patrick’s Day is associated with the ability to “blarney.” One usually is “blarney” while consuming large amounts of alcohol. Yet, the origin of the term “blarney” actually comes from “the Blarney Stone,” a large block of stone located in an 18-foot thick wall of the Blarney Castle Tower in Blarney, Ireland. It was originally built in 1446, to protect Irish villagers during attacks by the English army. Legend has it that an old woman cast a magical spell upon the stone, after a king saved her from drowning in the moat surrounding the castle. The magical spell was the gift of persuasive eloquence, or blarney, which was given to the king whenever he would kiss the stone. Today, tourists may still visit the castle and kiss “the Blarney Stone,” and many claim to have gained the ability to have persuasive eloquence. Scholars who have studied the Blarney Stone believe that it may have come to be associated with St. Patrick’s Day because of his eloquence. Thus, once again, anything believed to have been associated with St. Patrick, however loosely, also became part of this holiday. So, when someone is accused of being “blarney” tomorrow, and most Americans use that word in a derogatory manner, remember that to “blarney” is actually to speak with persuasive eloquence.

As we can see, this holiday has many interesting roots to its traditions, most of them sacred, whether Pagan or Christian. And, though no longer a “holy” day for most who celebrate, it continues as a symbol of one man’s ability to bring together two very different religious traditions, and merge them into one very powerful tradition. Powerful enough, that many westerners celebrate this holiday, which honors this religious man, whether they are religious or not. It is a day that reminds the Irish of their history, a day that reminds them of the blending of both their Pagan and Catholic beliefs, and a day that reminds them that they never gave in to English rule within their hearts and souls, and thus, this day is a reminder of their Irish identity, as opposed to their place within the United Kingdom.