National Saint

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick is the national saint of Ireland

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick is the national saint of Ireland

Saint Patrick is the national saint of Ireland. Although there are many estimations of Saint Patricks era, it is believed he was born between 385 and 387 AD in Kilpatrick, Scotland and later died in Downpatrick, Ireland on the 17 March somewhere between 461 and 493 AD. He was born to a family who were very dedicated to the Christian faith, having a father who was a deacon and a grandfather who was a priest. Much about his early life is relatively unknown up until in his sixteenth year, when he was captured by the High King of Ireland and enslaved for six years. It is believed he spent his time in slavery herding sheep North East of Ireland. During that time he devoted himself to prayer and eventually was given a spiritual assignment received in a dream to emancipate the Irish from paganism and covert them to Christianity. He learnt a lot about Celtic life during that time and was sympathetic to their culture and traditions but eventually escaped his captors and travelled 200 miles to Killala, then to Westport where he was able to make his way back to his family in Britain by ship. Upon his return he dedicated himself to studying religion and eventually was ordained a bishop. Once he was versed on the word of God he returned to Ireland as a missionary to fulfil his request from God. As the legend goes St Patrick successfully converted the Irish to Christianity. It is also believed that he was responsible for ridding the island of snakes, however this is a purely mythical tale and there actually were never any snakes to begin with. The celebration of his anniversary on the 17 March brings with it global celebration of not just the life of Saint Patrick but the celebration of Ireland and Irishness.

Saint Patrick's Day

From its religious origins Saint Patrick’s Day has transformed into an international participatory event when Ireland and its global diaspora have a chance to celebrate what it means to be Irish. Many traditions have been carried on and many invented to commemorate the patron Saint and Irish culture, none more so than the wearing of green. Green is believed to represent not just the green lush meadows and foliage of the island but to symbolise an ancient Celtic fertility rite that uses the ashes of leaves to blow over the fields to generate fruitful vegetation. The shamrock is believed to illustrate the nature of the Holy Trinity with its three leaves derived from Saint Patrick’s teachings. Many cities around the world host large parades where there is a variety of art, music and dance drawn from traditional Irish culture. Other traditions like drinking green beer are also associated with the day and seen as a chance to spend a day in the pub with old and new friends. Whatever way Saint Patrick’s Day is spent, across the globe it is celebrated with great enthusiasm for both Irish and non Irish alike. It is a day to celebrate old traditions and a day to reflect the energetic and creative identity of contemporary Ireland.

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