to come. During this time, Patrick baptized thousands of people (some say 100,000), ordained new priests, guided women to nun hood, converted the
sons of kings in the region, and aided in the formation of over 300 churches.
Folklore also tells of Patrick banishing all the snakes from Ireland and turning people into werewolves, but as badass as that may sound, there were
never actually any snakes on the island to begin with and sadly, werewolves don’t exist. Lame, I know.
But Patrick may be the one responsible for popularizing the shamrock, or that three-leafed plant you’ll see plastered all over the place today.
According to legend, Patrick used it to teach the Irish the concept of the Christian Holy Trinity. They already had triple deities and regarded the number
three highly, so Patrick’s use of the shamrock may have helped him win a great deal of favor with the Irish.
These days, Patricius is known to most as Saint Patrick. Though he’s not technically a canonized saint by the Catholic Church, he’s well-regarded
throughout the Christian world. But why the holiday? Why always March 17? What’s with the green? And why do we think of a non-Irish, non-snake
charmer as a symbol of Ireland?
St. Paddy’s Day started as a religious celebration in the 17th century to commemorate the life of Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.
This “Feast Day” always took place on the anniversary of Patrick’s death, which was believed to be March 17, 461 AD.
In the early 18th century, Irish immigrants brought the tradition over to the American colonies, and it was there that Saint Patrick started to become
the symbol of Irish heritage and culture that he is today. As more Irish came across the Atlantic, the Feast Day celebration slowly grew in popularity.
So much so, in fact, that the first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston in 1737.
By the mid-19th century, the United States saw a massive influx of Irish immigrants hoping to escape the Great Famine. This transformed the
relatively small-scale Feast Day observance into a full-blown celebration that people wanted to be a part of, whether they were Irish or not.
In 1903, Feast Day became a national holiday in Ireland, and over time it transformed into what is now called St. Patrick’s Day. The holiday has since
been celebrated all over the world in countries like the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Russia,
and even throughout Asia.
As it happens, St. Paddy’s Day is so popular, it’s thought to be celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. What was once a fairly
chill day of going to mass, watching a parade, and eating a hearty meal with family, has transformed into the biggest party in the world.
If you’re wondering why you’re wearing green right now, there’s more to it than protection from pinching fingers. It goes back to the Irish Rebellion,
when Irish soldiers wore green as they fought off the British in their trademark red. Until then, the color associated with St. Patrick and Feast Day was
actually blue. The song soldiers sang during the war in 1798, “The Wearing of the Green,” changed all of that and made green, the color of shamrocks,
Ireland’s mainstay color. From then on, people wore green on St. Patrick’s Day in solidarity. And when Chicago dyed their river green for the first time
in 1962, the practice of wearing and decorating in green became a part of pop culture. It’s now commonplace to bust out your best greens mid-March.
Okay, so why all the drinking then? It’s part historical subtext, part us succumbing to advertising, and part stereotyping. Originally, St. Patrick’s Day,
or Feast Day, saw the lifting of Lent restrictions for the day, giving Christians a breather as they made their way to Easter. Basically, it was a day to eat
and drink as much as you pleased in celebration, hence the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage. But imbibing on whiskey and beer was
not part of the equation. In fact, pubs in Ireland were forced by law to shut down for the holiday until later in the 20th century, and drinking alcohol on
St. Patrick’s Day was greatly frowned upon until the late 1970s.
Then, a huge marketing push from Budweiser in the 80s convinced thirsty revelers that drinking beer and St. Patrick’s Day were one in the same.
The rest is drunk history that nobody seems to remember, as it’s all been replaced in our heads with quotes from Boondock Saints. Much like Cinco de
Mayo, many people now use the holiday as an excuse to binge drink, which fosters negative stereotypes by incorrectly associating the act of getting
wasted with Irish culture.
But, at least now you can take a swig of your Guinness in pride and enjoy that corned beef and cabbage a little more because you know the real
story. Sláinte!
TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MARCH 2020 41