St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is on March 17th.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig (LAW AY-luh PAW-rihg) - In Irish Gaelic this means St. Patrick's Day 


Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! (BAN-uhkh-tee nuh FAY-luh PAW-rihg O-rihv) - In Irish Gaelic this means Happy St. Patrick's Day to You All!

"Sláinte Mhath!" as the Irish would say. (It means "good health.")

 

Did you know about 34 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry?  This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (3.9 million). Irish is the second most frequently reported ancestry in the U.S., trailing only German. In Massachusetts, 24 percent of residents are of Irish ancestry, about double the national percentage. Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have Irish as the leading ancestry group. Irish is among the top five ancestries in every state but two (Hawaii and New Mexico)
 
There are approximately 148,000 foreign-born U.S. residents born in Ireland. About 4.8 million immigrants from Ireland have been admitted for lawful permanent residence since fiscal year 1820, the earliest year for which official immigration records exist. By fiscal year 1870, about half of these immigrants were admitted for lawful permanent residence. Only Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Mexico have had more immigrants admitted for permanent residence to the United States than Ireland.
 
There are four places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,828 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 164 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 126. (Figure for Mount Gay-Shamrock is a Census 2000 count; the other figures in this paragraph are 2003 estimates.)

There are 9 places in the U.S. that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Since Census 2000, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (35,581 compared with 33,606 as of July 1, 2003).

On St. Patrick’s Day, some drinking establishments offer green-dyed beer to their thirsty patrons.  Did you know that approximately 22 gallons of beer are consumed per capita by Americans annually?

About St. Patrick Hisself

Saint Patrick, known as the Apostle of Ireland, was a high-ranking Christian clergyman. His legendary use of the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity led to its adoption as Ireland's national symbol.  Saint Patrick was born in 387 A.D as Maewyn Succat.  Saint Patrick was kidnapped at age 16 and sold into slavery in Ireland.  He escaped by boat to Britain after six years of captivity and traveled to St. Martin's monastery in Tours, France, where he studied under Saint Germain of Auxerre and became a priest.  In 431 A.D. Pope Celestine I named him Patricius and sent him on a mission to Ireland. 

Ireland was Christianized by Saint Patrick in the 5th century.  In 432 A.D he arrived in Ireland and successfully converted the island from Druidism to the Christian faith.  Saint Patrick became bishop in 455 A.D., and died on March 17th 461 A.D. The date of his death is disputed between March 8th and March 9th, so they were added together. He and his successors founded churches and monasteries that became centers of Christian art and refinement. Saint Patrick's Day is the most important national holiday in Ireland.

Today Saint Patrick is revered by many Christian denominations and he is the official saint of the Church of Ireland. Many people go to sacred wells, mountains, and places named in his honor throughout the year. The most popular legend of St. Patrick is that he drove away all the
snakes in Ireland. Snakes are a metaphor for the Druids, priests of the Celts. The Druids and their religion were vanquished by the Roman conquest. 

Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is the traditional feast day of Ireland's patron saint.  In the United States, Saint Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration of Irish American heritage.  Many Irish American communities hold parades, with celebrants dressed in green to symbolize the lush Irish landscape.  Some people take it a bit further and dye their hair and food green, and some communities (such as Chicago) go so far as to pour green dye into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.  Traditional customs for the proper celebration of the day-and Yes we all know that Ireland has tried its very best to discard its historic culture in favor of progress, industrialization and American commercialism, but customs are important to give meaning to life and joy to the soul, so here they are: 

  • Wear an emblem in honor of the Saint.-a custom which dates from as early as 1681-and the account of Thomas Dinely. Generally a green ribbon, the shamrock or a Saint Patrick's cross (circle or square of paper decorated with green ribbon and bits of priests vestments by girls and small children-for boys a paper cross in the style of the Celtic illuminations carefully decorated) 
  • Go to work and demand the "Patrick's Groat" take leave of your capitalistic master and go to town and spend it all. (Very few of the zealous should be found sober at night account (Dinely 1681!)
  •  Men should make a cross of a twig of wild sallow and pin it to the thatch inside the house or above the door. 
  • You may also wear a harp shaped badge.
  • Wear the "Trifolium repens"-white clover (Identified as such by Caleb Threlkeld in 1727) Actually it is doubtful if anyone knows what a shamrock is (Early 20th century-Nathaniel Colgan asked around Ireland and found that it could be- Trifolium repens, (white clover), Folium minus- (leser trefoil), Trifolium pratense (purple clover), Medicagio Lupulina (Black Medick) So take your pick!  Shamrocks have been considered good-luck symbols by the Irish since early times, and shamrocks or various representations of the plant are frequently worn on Saint Patrick's Day. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by Saint Patrick. The name shamrock comes from the Irish Seamrog, which means "little clover." 

  • After church (Mass) go to the pub to drink the "pota Pa/draig"- St. Patricks pot. Many acts of devotion should be followed by an equal number of acts of copious libation... Say this quaint line when doing so: 

    Ordain a Statute to be Drunk 

    And burn Tobacco free as Spunk 

    And (fat shall never be forgot" 

    In Usquebah,St. Patrick's Pot  (Farewell 1689) 

  • Give treats and gifts to friends and children. 
  • Put shamrock which has been worn on the day into the last glass of drink-then toast to the health of all and pick the wet drowned shamrock out of the glass and toss it over the left shoulder. 

     

  • Using a burnt stick make a cross on the sleeve of each member of the household.

     

  • You have to eat meat and you do not need any special dispensation to do so. Jocelin notes that as early as 1100 AD people ate meat in Lent due to an account of St. Patrick doing so and then being forgiven the meat turning to fish in the boiling water. 

 

  • You must begin your planting soon after St. Patrick's day- (peas are best planted on the day. (Source-Kevin Danaher- The Year in Ireland Mercier Press Cork,1972) 

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

The prayer used by St. Patrick to protect his followers from the King-He prayed and the whole group changed into deer and ran past the warriors to the hall of the king where he successfully did a battle of words with the Druids. 

I bind me to-day 
Gods might to direct me 
Gods Power to protect me 
Gods wisdom for learning 
Gods eye for discerning 
Gods ear for my hearing 
Gods Word for my clearing 
Gods hand for my cover 
Gods path to pass over 
Gods buckler to guard me 
Gods army to ward me 
Against snares of the devil 
Against vices temptation 
Against wrong inclination 
Against men who plot evil 
Near or afar with many or few 

Christ near 
Christ here 
Christ be with me 
Christ beneath me 
Christ within me 
Christ behind me 
Christ be o er me 
Christ Before me 

Christ in the left and the right 
Christ hither and thither 
Christ in the sight 
Of each eye that shall seek me 
In each ear that shall hear 
In each mouth that shall speak me 
Christ not the less 
In each heart I address 
I bind me to-day on the Triune I call 
With faith in the Trinity-unity 
God over all. 

    

 

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