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March 17th marks the recognition of St. Patrick each year, and the history began with a strictly Catholic holiday. It became an official holiday in the early 1800’s, and the celebration of Irish culture continues today.
St. Patrick lived from AD387 to AD461. He was a patron saint in Ireland and is one of the most commonly recognized patron saints. Although very little is known about his early childhood, he was born into wealth in Roman Britain, and was kidnapped at 16 by Irish raiders. He confessed that God had told him how to escape this slavery, and he fled to the coast, boarded a ship and joined the church upon his arrival to Britain, vowing and studying to be a priest. One of his methods of teaching was to use a shamrock to explain the doctrine of Christianity to the Irish, using the three-leaved plant to teach the Trinity. He is believed to be the principal champion of Christianity for Ireland,
and after 13 years of being an evalgelist, he died on March 17, in the year 461.
The St. Patrick’s Day Festival is a festival which takes place over a number of days nationwide in Ireland. But in the northern part of Ireland, it is strictly a bank holiday.
Although we associate the color
green with St. Patrick’s Day, originally it was blue. But since shamrocks and green ribbons were worn even in the 1800’s, the color green grew in popularity when associating with this holiday. The “wearing of the green” actually refers to wearing a shamrock on a piece of one’s clothing.
Share
the St Patricks Day
History with your
kids as a bedtime
story.
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