Read Me I’m Irish

By: Jordyn McCulley  

Have you ever wondered why we wear green on march 17 every year? Where did this strange holiday come from; where we celebrate leprechauns and having just a little bit of Irish in us. We always say “kiss me I’m irish,” but why?  Here are some answers to the questions we all have had about St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s day is named after Saint Patrick who died on march 17, 461 A.D. Saint Patrick was born in Wales or England; no one knows for sure. It wasn’t until the 17th-century that he was notarized as the Patron of Ireland.

At the age of 16, he was taken and sold to the Irish as a slave. Ten  years later he escaped back to England. Where he then became a priest and moved back to Ireland where he built a Christian church and received a lot of backlash from the Celtic druids.

In Ireland St. Patrick’s Day was considered a religious holiday and all pubs were closed for the day; making the holiday a dry, alcohol free day. It wasn’t until 1970 when the holiday was reinstated as a national holiday and alcohol came into the picture.

On St. Patrick’s day, it is normal to see hundreds of people wearing green. Wearing green didn’t become popular  until the 19th-century. In fact Saint Patrick’s color was not green but blue. Green became more associated with Ireland because of their green land which was later nicknamed the “Emerald Island.”

The shamrock also has nothing to do with St.Patrick’s day. The shamrock is not the Ireland symbol even though it’s extremely popular. The shamrock began as a teaching tool in the catholic religion. The three leaves stood for the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The National symbol for Ireland is the harp.

There are more Irish people living in the United States than there are living in Ireland. There are about 34 million Irish people in the United States and Ireland only has about 4 million.

Many cities go all out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Chicago dyes the Chicago River green, that can last for a few days. Sydney, Australia lights up the Opera house green. In New York they have one of the biggest parades and, of course, many restaurant will be serving some type of green beer and green food.

I went out and found some Maryville students that had great memories from when they were little about some St. Patrick’s Day traditions. Every elementary school had those fun holiday parties that every child would look forwards too.

“I remember when I was in kindergarten the teachers would flip all the chairs and say that it was the leprechauns that did it . We would make traps for the leprechaun and have a little St. Patrick’s party and would eat green food” McKenzie Crowell, first year, said.

“I remember when I was in school during St. Patrick’s Day and I forgot  to wear green I would always get pinched” Tali Azar, first year, said.

Join the fun and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. St. Louis had plenty of things going on. There was a parade, a festival, and almost every restaurant is joined the fun by making their food and drinks green.

To share the fun tweet us @MvillePawPrint or tag us on facebook at Maryville Pawprint