A Very Brief History of St. Patrick's Day

This may be a late blog post but nonetheless, on the occasion of St. Patrick's Day, I thought it would be fitting.

St. Patrick's day is held every year on March the 17th, and is held in honour of St. Patrick.

 St. Patrick was a Romano-Briton , born in the fourth century AD in present-day Britain , who practically introduced Christianity to Ireland and hence become the most popular of Ireland's patron saints.

Interestingly, St. Patrick wasn't even Irish, but was of Scottish-Roman English descent. His real name was said to have been Maewyn Succat. Due to his Anglicized Roman name, he eventually became known as Patrick.

St. Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland in 1903. The first St. Patrick's Day parade in the Irish Free State was staged in Dublin in 1931. Curiously, the parade in Montreal was first held almost 100 years earlier -- in 1824. It's one of the longest running St. Patty's Day parades in North America.

 St. Patrick is probably one of the most iconic figures of Irish culture; with legends of him banishing the snakes from Ireland to him explaining the concept of trinity to the pagan Irish by using the Shamrock plant

The Shamrock, otherwise known as the Irish clover

The day is generally characterised by the attendance of church services, wearing of green attire (hence everything is green!) , public parades and processions, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating, and drinking alcohol,

Saint Patrick's day is a national holiday in Ireland and is widely celebrated amongst the Irish diaspora.

If you'd like more insight, here are some works:
About Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick's Day