Happy St. Patrick’s Day, friends!

Thank you those of you who took the time to read my post from yesterday and to everyone who reached out with love and kindness. If you miss the blog post, I talked about Behind the Covid Unit Doors- One Nurse’s Perspective. Today is a much lighter day on the blog. I’m sharing a short post about the origin of St. Patrick’s Day.

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick, alive during the 5th century, is the patron saint of Ireland and its nation apostle. He was kidnapped from Great Britain and brought to Ireland as a slave when he was a teenager. Later, he escaped but returned to Ireland, bringing Christianity to the Irish people. St. Patrick was believed to pass on March 17, 461. As time went on, tales of his life became more ingrained in Irish culture. The most well known tale is the Irish shamrock or 3 leaf clover. St. Patrick used this to explain the holy trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Celebration

Since the 9th century, the Irish have been celebrating the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade recorded was in 1601 in a Spanish Colony that is now St. Augustine, Florida. In 1772, homesick Irish solids serving in the English military held a military march in honor of St. Patrick. The holiday celebrations began to grow across the country from there.

Today, people across the world of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Some celebrations in American include Chicago dying the river green, Savannah, GA hosting the US’s oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade, and New York City hosting the largest parade.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy St. Patricks day! Will you be celebrating? If so, how? Please share below, I would love to know! 

Reference: https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day