History of St Patrick’s Day
The Irish are famous for many things, least of which is their Irish jokes.
This in turn, lends itself to St Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated as a day of fun, laughter and games. But what is the history that surrounds this day being celebrated worldwide?
The person who was to become St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales in approximately AD 385.
His given name was Maewyn, and he nearly lost the job as bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship. Far from being a saint, he considered himself a pagan until the age of 16, when he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders who raided his village.
During his captivity, he became closer to God and after escaping from slavery after six years, he travelled to Gaul where he studied in a monastery for 12 years under St Germain, Bishop of Auxerre.
During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert pagans to Christianity. He wished to return to Ireland and convert the native pagans to Christianity, however, his superiors appointed St Palladius to carry out this task.
Two years later Palladius transferred to Scotland and Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.
Patrick was quite successful at winning converts – a fact that upset the Celtic Druids. For this reason, Patrick was arrested several times, but managed to escape each time.
He travelled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country, and setting up schools and churches to aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.
His mission in Ireland lasted for 30 years, after which Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St Patrick’s Day ever since.
Much Irish folklore surrounds St Patrick’s Day, although not much of it is actually substantiated. Some of this includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He’s also said to have given a sermon from a hilltop, driving all the snakes from Ireland.
No snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some believe this to be a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans.
Though originally a Catholic holy day, St Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
