The History of St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.
Over the next 35 years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called "Irish Aid" societies like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.
In 1848, several New York Irish Aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Today, that parade is the world 's oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants.


I am very proud to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day...and always!  My husband proposed to me in Limerick, Ireland (where my maternal great-grandparents are from).  Two of my children have Irish names and are spelled the "Irish" way!  Each year we make Reuben Sandwiches in the slow cooker and my husband and I enjoy a Guiness beer with our meals.  My children all have "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirts and at some point during the day a wee leprechaun comes to visit our house and makes a mess!  He leaves his tracks all over the house to let us know he was here...including coloring our milk green and leaving some green *something* on the floor!  We can only guess what it is...not sure if he had an accident after drinking our milk or he just spilled something...I guess he will only know for sure!  Now if we could just catch that little mischevious bugger we'd be set!  Oh, and just an FYI...leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O'Gill & the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general.


What special traditions do you celebrate on St. Patrick's Day?  Remember...everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks to History.com and wikipedia.com for the helpful history lesson!
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