Why saint patricks day

Patrick was a real person, but some of the traditions associated with him and the holiday are actually myths. However, according to legend, Patrick used a three-leaf clover, or shamrock, as part of his teachings. Even though it's possible for a shamrock to grow a fourth leaf, a four-leaf clover is just considered a symbol of good luck. Another legend says that Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland. The problem? These creatures never actually lived in the country. The fact that Ireland is an island—as well as green with leafy trees and grassy hills—means that the nation is sometimes called the Emerald Isle.

But the color that people originally associated with St. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, known for bringing Christianity to the country. He lived in the fifth century and was actually born in Roman Britain—not Ireland! When he was 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and was sent as a slave to present-day Northern Ireland where he became a shepherd, writes BBC. He grew close to his Christian faith during these difficult years and then went on and spread Christianity to the Irish through baptism and confirmation.

Hundreds of years after his death, several legends became popularized about this religious figure. One of these includes the famous story of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland. But the explanation for there being no snakes in Ireland is simply that there's never been snakes in Ireland! Ireland wasn't always associated with the color green. Even though its lush hills would suggest otherwise, the Emerald Isle was actually once aligned with the color blue instead.

When Henry the VIII claimed himself to be king of Ireland in the s, his flag was blue , meaning that Ireland was also associated with the color. However, green was later used as the color of the flag in the Great Irish Rebellion of when the Irish fought against the English. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in New York City on March 17, to honor the Irish patron saint.

Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick's Day Was Made in America. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies and drums. Each year, nearly 3 million people line the 1. Boston, Chicago , Philadelphia and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades involving between 10, and 20, participants each. In , the New York City parade was one of the first major city events to be cancelled as a result of the COVID pandemic; it was again cancelled in Up until the midth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class.

When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in , close to 1 million poor and uneducated Irish Catholics began pouring into America to escape starvation. Despised for their alien religious beliefs and unfamiliar accents by the American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs.

The American Irish soon began to realize, however, that their large and growing numbers endowed them with a political power that had yet to be exploited. Suddenly, annual St. In , President Harry S. The Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day, As Irish immigrants spread out over the United States, other cities developed their own traditions. The practice started in , when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday.

That year, they released pounds of green vegetable dye into the river—enough to keep it green for a week. Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only 40 pounds of dye are used, and the river turns green for only several hours. Patrick's Day Traditions.

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