Saint Patrick’s Day is a popular Irish celebration. It takes place on March 17 every year and celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of the Irish.
Domaine du Goût is changing things up to tell you about a celebration where beer is the drink of choice!
The origins of Saint Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is a Irish celebration of Christian origin. It gives the Irish an opportunity to celebrate their culture and history.
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Who was Saint Patrick?
This celebration is named after a Scotsman whose real name was Maewyn Succat. He was later named “Saint Patrick.” An evangelist in Ireland in the 5th century, he is famous for converting Ireland to Christianity. Indeed, he is said to have succeeded in explaining the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish, and more particularly to the lords of the Kingdom of Ireland, using the three-leaf clover during a sermon at the Rock of Cashel. This story has largely shaped Ireland as it is today, since the country is now predominantly Catholic. What is more, this is why the clover is one of Ireland’s main symbols! Every year, the Irish wear a clover in their buttonholes in memory of this religious heritage.
The other legend
Another legend also tells that Saint Patrick accomplished the feat of driving all the snakes out of Ireland by convincing them to drown in the waters surrounding the country. However, one last snake remained. The story goes that Saint Patrick showed the snake a small box and asked it to climb inside. The snake, for its part, declared that it was too large to fit into the box and that the box was too small to contain it, but Saint Patrick insisted otherwise. After lengthy arguments, the snake decided to enter the box to prove to Saint Patrick that he was wrong and that the box was indeed far too small for it to fit inside. Once the snake was in the box, Saint Patrick immediately closed it and threw it into the sea. This legend is more likely a metaphor and a reference to the eradication of Irish pagan beliefs during the conversion to Christianity.
Traditions
The celebration takes place on March 17 to honor the anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick, the evangelist of the Emerald Isle. This day is also an opportunity for the Irish to welcome spring.
Contrary to what one might think, Saint Patrick’s Day is not Ireland’s national holiday! Indeed, this is a misconception particularly widespread in foreign countries and the media. The reason is that Ireland does not have a national holiday in the strict sense, such as July 14 in France or July 4 in the United States.
This celebration is a religious holiday established by the Christian Church in the 17th century. Highly respected by the Irish, it is celebrated in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and on the island of Montserrat. It is comparable, for example, to Saint Andrew’s Day, celebrated in Scotland.
A day that became a public holiday
It was in 1903 that Saint Patrick’s Day was declared a public holiday through the Bank Holiday Act of 1903, an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. When Saint Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday, it is moved to Monday. Irish citizens can therefore benefit from all the public holidays established by the government to which they are entitled.
This day is first and foremost a patriotic and festive event that celebrates Ireland and all its facets.
Saint Patrick’s Day has been deeply popular in Ireland since the 10th century. Above all, it is the enthusiasm generated by the Irish government and the festive nature of the celebration that accounts for this holiday’s popularity. It is popular in the country, but also abroad among Irish expatriates, and increasingly among non-Irish people.
How is Saint Patrick’s Day celebrated?
Every March 17, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated mainly in the streets, pubs, and all the festive, welcoming places where people can raise a glass in honor of the Irish and Ireland.
The whole country lives to the rhythm of this celebration through huge parades, concerts, and traditional music sessions held outdoors in the streets. It is also an opportunity to enjoy pints of Guinness and other Irish beers, as well as typically Irish dishes such as Cornish pasties (meat- and vegetable-filled pastries) or Shepherd’s pie (an Irish meat-based cottage pie).
The program includes singing, dancing, and dressing up! Indeed, one of the symbols of Saint Patrick’s Day is dressing in green and painting oneself green. Some people even dress up as leprechauns, famous creatures from Irish folklore and symbols of Ireland, alongside the clover, the color green, and the Celtic harp. Others simply choose to dress up as Saint Patrick!
Saint Patrick’s Day through the eyes of foreigners
Let’s remember that you do not have to be Irish to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day! In Ireland, the Irish celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with anyone who wants to join in, so you can be adopted as Irish at heart! So if you decide to spend Saint Patrick’s Day in Dublin, and especially attend the legendary Grand Parade on O’Connell Street, rest assured that you will receive a warm welcome from the locals!
Outside Ireland’s borders, this celebration is mainly seen as a celebration of what makes Ireland what it is: clovers, Irish music, beer, and the color green.
Excessive beer consumption is very much present in the collective imagination when this celebration is mentioned. However, this consumption is encouraged by breweries, which make enormous profits from the event. Indeed, in 2018, nearly 13 million pints of Guinness were consumed worldwide on Saint Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s Day around the world
It is worth knowing that the first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration was not held in Ireland but in the United States, in the city of Boston, in 1737. It was not until 1931 that the first parade took place in the country of Guinness.
This celebration has many followers around the world. Through expatriates and descendants of many Irish people, the most iconic of their celebrations has become widely popular.
Countries that celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day
The United States has the largest Irish community, following immigration resulting from the Great Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. As a result, many large American cities, particularly those on the East Coast, celebrate the Irish holiday enthusiastically. Boston, for example, as well as Chicago, which has dyed its river, the Chicago River, green every year for the past 40 years.
New York is home to the largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade. It takes place on the famous Fifth Avenue and brings together several hundred thousand people. The event, celebrated in the city since 1762, has grown into a gigantic event over time. It is now one of the events most eagerly anticipated by Americans each year.
Saint Patrick’s Day is also celebrated in Canada, and Montreal has hosted the country’s largest parade since 1824.
Buenos Aires and Argentina in general are also home to a large community of Irish descendants. Ireland was also the only European country to support Argentina during the Falklands War in 1982. It is also the country of origin of the famous Argentine naval admiral Guillermo Brown. All these reasons explain why Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in this South American country. Since 2009, the Irish Embassy in Argentina has organized the celebrations in the country’s main cities.
In France, many pubs celebrate the event. Concerts are also organized in several cities to introduce people to the music and customs of this homeland that fascinates so many people!
What about wine?
Known for its beers and whiskies, Ireland is much less known for its wines. And yet, the country produces them!
Indeed, even though the amount of sunshine in Ireland is nothing compared with that of other wine-producing countries such as France or Italy, some producers have managed to produce wine on the rainy island.
In Ireland, however, wine is more akin to mead. Ingredients such as honey and spices are added. The result is surprising and very different from our traditional wines.
It is in County Cork, in Kinsale, that Ireland’s one and only traditional winery can be found: Thomas Walk Vineyard, the vineyard of winemaker Thomas Walk. This German-born man took the bold gamble 37 years ago of making wine in Ireland. And he succeeded! Thanks in particular to him and his red wines made from the Rondo grape variety, the country is now on the world wine map.
