On March 17th every year, people throughout the world suddenly become a little more Irish. The streets turn green, and people seem to put a shamrock on everything they own. It becomes normal to celebrate the day with music, parades and more than enough green food to make a leprechaun very proud. But behind the green, gingers and gold, St. Patrick’s Day has a long history with unique traditions and fascinating folklore.
History
From early 5th-Century Europe, the holiday traditionally recognizes Saint Patrick: an early Roman-British Christian missionary who was unfortunately kidnapped and taken to Ireland to be a slave. However, while he was there, he allegedly had a dream where “The Voice of the Irish” spoke to him and warned him to escape the island, as he did just that.
As if being kidnapped wasn’t traumatizing enough, Saint Patrick returned to Ireland – voluntarily this time – bringing Christianity to the people. To explain his teachings of the Holy Trinity, he used a three-leaf shamrock as a visual aid, eventually becoming the symbol of the holiday. While in Ireland, he was credited for “discarding” all the snakes on the island – although historians believe that snakes never inhabited the island to begin with.
To celebrate Saint Patrick’s achievements, it was commemorated on March 17th as “Patrick’s feast day”. The day was celebrated with religious traditions and church services, along with customs still around today, such as parades and a feast. Presently, it stands for a remembrance of Irish immigration.
Between the years 1845-1852, Ireland was hit with the “Great Famine”, causing mass disease and starvation, which practically wiped out the country. Over the course of seven years, one million people died, and 1.5 million Irish fled the country, immigrating to the United States (U.S.). Boston and New York saw a boom in Irish culture and residents, eventually bringing over a holiday known today as “St. Patrick’s Day”.
Traditions
As ex-patriot Irish continue to spread throughout the world, notably in the U.S, St. Patrick’s Day has become increasingly popular. And while the message and the traditions surrounding St. Patrick’s Day have become distorted over the years, the overall gist of family gatherings and community celebrations has lived on.
Almost like a low-commitment, inverse Halloween, “St. Paddy’s Day” features much dressing up. Everyone who pretends to care about the long forgotten St. Patrick wears green in fear of being pinched, and slaps on a four-leaf clover for good luck. Elementary students build traps for the long-pursued leprechaun, and any city worth a gold coin throws a parade featuring the local sponsors, and – the dullest float – the mayor.
However, a traditional St. Patrick’s Day is not as merry as you might think. Rural Ireland does not see the parades or grandeur on March 17th. It is a day of religious reflection, with Mass in the morning and music and dancing at the center of it all. First and foremost, the Irish celebrate St. Patrick: gathering with family and friends over a plate of corned beef and cabbage; telling stories and singing songs. The excessive parties and booze hounds are found only in Dublin, where the holiday is a huge success in the tourism industry.
The tender side of the day has not been completely rubbed raw, though. St. Patrick’s Day parades can be an important community gathering for towns and cities alike, in the U.S. and in Ireland. Holidays like this provide a sense of togetherness and give a Limerickman something to look forward to.
Folklore and Symbols
Common symbols of St. Patrick’s Day in modern celebrations include four-leaf clovers, gold coins and all things green, from emerald-hued hats and clothes to dyed food and drinks. Some search for rainbows that lead to a mythical pot of gold, or build traps to ensnare a leprechaun, hoping for riches and magic on the day of luck.
Four-leaf clovers are a chance mutation of the typical three-leaf structure of clover, yet their relative rarity has led to them developing into an emblem of luck and good fortune. These clovers have become associated with St. Patrick’s Day as they are a ‘luckier’ variation of the three-leafed clover, said to be used by St. Patrick in his teachings in Ireland.
Leprechauns, now famous as a cereal mascot and symbols of joyful mischief, originated as mildly dangerous beings in Celtic mythology that play potentially deadly pranks and guard glittering treasures. Over time, their image changed, becoming one of playful tricksters who fool greedy humans out of finding pots of gold.
“The word leprechaun comes from the ‘leipreachán’ in Irish and ‘luchorpán’ in Old Irish, meaning ‘small body’ or ‘lobaircin,’ which translates to ‘small-bodied fellow.’ In ancient Celtic mythology, leprechauns hail from the ‘aos sí,’ a supernatural race similar to elves and fairies,” wrote Lesley Kennedy in “The Jolly Leprechaun’s Sinister Origins”.
As leprechauns evolved from their mythological origins to more whimsical symbols of lighthearted fun, these tiny shoe-cobblers captured the hearts of people around the world. Their mischievous nature and tales of the riches that can be found if you manage to catch and outsmart one of the tricksters offer an escape from everyday life.
