Thursday, April 16th, 2009
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated all round the world with lively parties, noisy parades, and plenty of light-hearted family entertainment. While it started out as an important date in the calendar for anyone with Irish blood, it is now enthusiastically observed by millions more, all eager to enjoy the fun and raise a glass to all things Irish.
Goodness knows what St Patrick himself would have thought of all the shenanigans! He brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and what little written evidence of his life survives does not suggest he was a laugh-a-minute type of saint, or a party animal. He seems a thoroughly earnest chap and very much focussed on his mission to convert the pagan Irish.
This he had achieved by the time of his death and he was revered throughout the island very soon after. It is thought that the anniversary of his death - 17 March - was designated a special holy day of remembrance by his followers early in the 8th century but it was to be 900 years (1631) before it received the official stamp of approval from the Vatican. By this time the date had probably been accepted and celebrated at grass roots level for many years.
Holy days, official or not, were spirited affairs, even back in the medieval period. That spirit showed itself in music, in dancing, in playing sports and games, and in liquid refreshment. Fiery brews were consumed by both men and women, and the harsh dregs of ‘Patrick’s Pot’ were set aside for ‘drowning the shamrock’. This latter custom had no known purpose other than providing the party goer with an opportunity to verbally salute the shamrock, the humble plant St Patrick had used to explain his Christian teachings.
One of the reasons St Patrick’s Day was so passionately observed in Ireland was that 17 March always fell within Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter when Roman Catholics traditionally fasted or otherwise exercised some form of self-denial. Since it was permitted for Lenten denials to be relaxed on Holy Days, Irish Catholics grabbed the 24-hour respite with vigour.
In 1695, the British parliament (who ruled Ireland at the time) replaced many Catholic saints’ days in the official calendar and replaced them with dates reflecting Protestant teachings. St Patrick’s Day was one of the casualties. But most Irish responded characteristically by simply ignoring the authorities and continued to celebrate their outlawed national saint.
Within fifty years, a compromise saw St Patrick rehabilitated and his anniversary restored to the official diary. An image of him even appeared on Irish coinage. At about this time, the very first St Patrick’s Day parade was held, but it wasn’t in Ireland. It was in New York, and involved homesick Irish soldiers serving in the British army. News of the parade and its success spread and, in subsequent years, similar parades were organised by Irish communities in English and North American cities.
The following century saw mass starvation in Ireland. This resulted in mass emigration from its shores to all corners of the globe. Those that escaped the famine took with them fond memories of their homeland, their heritage and their saint and they continued to celebrate these on 17 March every year in parades and local fairs with their new neighbours, Irish or not.
After 150 years of emigration, it seems there is hardly a spot on earth that doesn’t turn a bit green on St Patrick’s Day. Special events are held in such diverse countries as Germany, Argentina, Montserrat, Norway and Japan, and huge parades are still held in New York, in Boston, in London, in Birmingham and, of course, in Dublin and other Irish cities.
March 17 is a day when everyone - no matter their nationality, heritage or creed - wants to join in the festivities, forget their cares, and indulge is some good natured craic. St Patrick’s Day is a day when Irish simply means fun.
Claire Santry writes on Irish genealogy and Irish heritage. Find out more about the history of St Patrick’s Day and about St Patrick himself.
Article Source: St Patrick’s Day - how it became an excuse for a great party
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