Is Saint Patrick Day A Religious Holiday – St. Patrick’s Day was a day for the Irish to humbly remember their patron saint. Although it has become more about culture and has become a universal party, it really doesn’t represent true Irish culture anymore, let alone celebrating a religious man.
The city of Chicago has painted the Chicago River green every year since 1962 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (James Foster/Associated Press)
Is Saint Patrick Day A Religious Holiday
What started as a religious man’s celebration turned into a universal party. Perhaps this is highlighted by Guinness Canada’s recent mistake of putting a four-leaf clover in a holiday announcement instead of the traditional shamrock, which caused some controversy. Leprechauns and all things green have become universal symbols of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. (Dima Gavrish/Associated Press)
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“Guinness needs everyone to know the difference between a shamrock and a shamrock,” lamented Peter Shea, historian at the Society of St. Patrick from Montreal.
The Toronto Irish brought the issue to the brewery’s attention, and the company apologized and said it would remove the ads.
Shea admits this may be because Guinness is no longer an Irish company and part of the evolution of the celebration, which he attributes to the “secularisation of society”.
So how did St. Patrick’s Day evolve from the first humble holiday in the early 17th century to the day that one Irish tourism website says is celebrated in more countries than any other national holiday?
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The shamrock is the national symbol of Ireland and of St. Patrick’s Day. Saint Patrick is said to have used the three-leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. (Dima Gavrish/Associated Press)
St. Patrick’s Day parades did not originate in Ireland. In fact, the first parade began in either Boston in 1737 or New York in 1762, depending on which account you read. The Encyclopedia Britannica says it was Boston, but the History Channel says it was NYC.
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was primarily a religious holiday, celebrated with religious services and festivities. In fact, Ireland didn’t have its own parade until 1903, according to Ireland.com. But it was Irish immigrants to North America who turned the day into a centuries-old celebration of “the merriment and celebration of things Irish,” as the Encyclopedia Britannica describes it.
Today, St. Patrick’s Day is most often associated with drinking copious amounts of beer — especially green beer — with shamrocks and leprechauns.
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Shea says the day’s evolution reflects changes in society at large. “Religious services are not what they were in the 1920s or 30s. Attendance at all denominations has declined. We have become a more secular society than we were 50 or 100 years ago. Instead, St. Patrick’s Day is a nationalistic holiday. Now, a religious holiday”.
St. Patrick’s Day was a low-key, religious holiday where bars closed and people went to church, says Robert Savage, a professor of Irish history at Boston College. But he says the Irish are now fully embracing St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, and that’s because Ireland has become more secular.
“I think it’s partly because the profile of the Catholic Church has gone down a lot. The Church has lost its moral authority and Ireland has become more European, more cosmopolitan and less religious,” Savage said.
But even though St. Patrick’s Day is now a nationalistic holiday, Shea doesn’t think it’s necessarily an accurate representation of the Irish.
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“Green hair and green beer … doesn’t really represent what pride is in Irish culture,” he said.
Today’s parade in New York will be the city’s 255th. It’s the largest St. Paddy’s parade in the world. (Dima Gavrish/Associated Press)
The Irish understand who wants to celebrate and have fun, Shea said, but traditionalists believe the festivities go too far if the entire community sees the drink as an Irish celebration. She said it’s possible to celebrate your Irish heritage without going overboard in the content department.
The holidays don’t always reflect Irish culture, agrees George McDonnell, vice-president of the Irish Heritage Society of Canada.
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“He was dressed up a lot. He was Americanized, the jovial aspect of it. The Irish aspect is the religious aspect,” he said.
“Everybody wants to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” McDonnell said. They want to drink green beer and everything associated with green.
There are many Irish societies and clubs around the world, he says, which he interprets as a healthy interest in Irish culture.
“Even if [St. Patrick] has changed, it really hasn’t,” he said, meaning the world’s love for all things Irish is very much alive.
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“This is an important difference. Chicago green beer, which dyes the river green, is unique; it’s more Irish-American… It’s a type of Irishness that developed here in the United States. It’s not that they’re fake. or counterfeits, but Irishness has evolved. It’s different for a lot of people in the United States,” the professor said.
Accounts of the holiday’s history vary, but according to the History Channel, St. Patrick’s Day was originally a day for the Irish to celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
St. Patrick was kidnapped from his British home at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland. Although he escaped, he returned years later to convert the Irish to Christianity. He also founded monasteries, churches and schools. He is said to have died on March 17, 461.
St. Patrick’s Day did not become the secular holiday it is today until Irish immigrants immigrated to the United States.
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New York is considered the birthplace of the parade since 1762, and the parade is still the largest in the world, attracting over two million spectators each year and lasting up to six hours. Boston, Chicago and Dublin also have widely recognized parades.
In Canada, Montreal hosts one of the longest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in North America. The parade has been held there every year since 1824.
St. Patrick’s Day has special significance in Ireland as it is the 100th anniversary of Easter 1916. The Rebellion was an armed uprising by Irish rebels during Easter week in an attempt to end British rule and make Ireland independent. 450 people were killed and many injured during the attacks.
The rebellion was one of the defining moments of the struggle for Irish independence. Although the rebellion failed, Ireland officially became a free country in 1922. Stay ahead of fashion and beyond with our weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of fashion trends and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter.
St. Patrick’s Day Symbols And Traditions For Celebrating This Irish Holiday
Every year on March 17, thousands of people gather to drink, wear green, eat traditional Irish food and generally celebrate Irish heritage.
St. Patrick’s Day, or St. Patrick’s Day, is a holiday in honor of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
The feast day commemorating the death of Saint Patrick was originally a religious holiday to mark the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and was officially declared by the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.
By the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church, the day is usually celebrated with worship, feasts and alcohol.
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Drinking has always been an integral part of St. Patrick’s Day, as historically the day was marked by the lifting for one day of fasting restrictions on drinking and drinking – which helped fuel the drinking from today.
Interestingly, St. Patrick was not actually Irish. He is believed to have been born in Scotland or Wales and was sold into slavery in Ireland as a child.
This year and every year it is celebrated on March 17. Saint Patrick’s Day 2022 falls on a Thursday.
Although St. Patrick’s Day has largely evolved into a cultural celebration of Irish heritage, certain traditions such as wearing green and shamrocks prevail.
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However, green was not associated with the holiday until the 19th century. Before that, blue was often worn to celebrate.
Shamrocks – three leaf clover-like plants – according to legend, were used by Saint Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish.
Leprechauns, a mythical type of fairy tale in Irish folklore, also appear during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Often depicted as little people, elves are usually depicted with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
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They are mischievous fairies known for playing pranks on people. But legend has it that if you catch one, it will grant you three wishes.
It is not a bank holiday in the UK and it is not a federal holiday in the US. However, it is a national holiday in Ireland.
The holiday has evolved into a largely cultural celebration of Irish heritage, marked by a day of drinking, green clothing and Irish-themed parades – although many were unable to go ahead as planned due to the coronavirus pandemic in course.
In addition to green clothing, beer, sometimes colored green, and Irish whiskey are commonly consumed to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day.
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But in Ireland and elsewhere, to celebrate the holiday, typical Irish dishes such as steak and Guinness pie or Irish soda bread are served.
Apparently, Ireland hosts the longest St. Patrick’s Day celebration, with a week of festivities and an annual parade.
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