Anthropology Alcove: The History of Saint Patrick's Day

 Hey y'all let's see what's up today! Seeing as this is the month of Saint Patrick's Day, and my family is Scots-Irish on my dad's side, I wanted to do a history of the holiday. For those of you that don't know me all that well personally, I am a fourth generation American, and my great great grandpa Wally immigrated to Appalachia from Cork, Ireland sometime in the 1910s-1920s (I unfortunately don't have an exact date for that at this time). Appalachian culture was shaped by these immigrants, the Native American people, and the African American people that settled here between the 1700s and early 1900s. This meshing of different cultures shaped our slang, our recipes, faith, and even our music but we'll get into that in a different post.

As always, this post will be a rather lengthy one, so if that's not something that you enjoy or you think you're able to get through this is your final warning. For those of you that wish to stay let's dive on in!

What Is It?

Saint Patrick's Day is otherwise known as the Feast of Saint Patrick. It's held on March 17th, because that is the death date of Saint Patrick, who is hailed as the patron Saint of Ireland. While this holiday began being notably observed as a feast day for the Catholic Church in the 17th century, it is also observed by the Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and the Anglican Communion. The day is used to celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, however it has also been historically used to celebrate Irish culture and heritage as well, though that meaning has perhaps been lost in the modern era. This holiday appears to be in the middle of times in which fasting and other such restrictions were placed upon members of the Catholic Church as well as other denominations, and as such those restrictions were lifted for one day in order to allow them space to celebrate.

The History

The creation of the holiday was created to celebrate the life of Saint Patrick, a shepherd-turned priest who returned to Ireland after spending his time working as a slave in the Gaelic-Irish territories where God first revealed himself to Patrick. According to surviving texts from the era, Patrick was told that there would be a boat waiting for him to take him

Despite the fact it was not added to the Catholic Calendar and considered and officially observed holiday until the 17th century, it is believed that Saint Patrick's Day was actually observed as early as the 9th or 10th century. Though the holiday is almost always celebrated on March 17th, it has occasionally been moved so that it doesn't overlap with other Catholic holidays such as Palm Sunday or Holy Week.

Celebrations

Saint Patrick's Day has often been celebrated with banquets, the wearing of green and shamrocks, and traditional Irish music. However in the 18th century parades were hosted in North America, and by the 20th century that form of celebration made it to Ireland. This form of celebration, along with festivals for the holiday, are some of the more common celebrations in the modern era. However, some towns host an annual "Running of the Gingers" race and as most of my fellow Americans know, Chicago dyes the river green in celebration.

Sydney Opera House "Going Green"

However, there are many other famous tourist attractions that go green for the holiday. The Sydney Opera House lights up green in celebration, as does the Auckland Sky Tower. Politically speaking, it is also common for Irish diplomats and government officials to travel around Saint Patrick's Day to promote their country in official visits to their foreign neighbors.

Shamrocks

The usage of shamrocks to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day stems from the belief that the three leafed plant was used to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. This symbolism is still used in some churches today as a way to explain the Holy Trinity to children, as it provides a nice visual aid. The first written evidence of this claim was in 1726, however it is believed to be much older. Three was a fairly important number, even in Irish paganism, and they had a lot of  deities that were symbolized in threes. It is believed that this common ground was what aided in Saint Patrick's ability to convert them to Catholicism.  

Wearing Green

The tradition of wearing green on Saint Patrick's Day actually has nothing to do with Saint Patrick himself. It's used as a way to celebrate the history of the Irish. The first recorded instance of this is from an 11th century book titled "The Book of the Taking of Ireland" (Lebor Gabálá Érenn). It tales of the creator for the Goidellic Languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx) and presumed ancestor of the Gaels, Goídel Glas or Goídel the Green. Glas was bitten by a snake, and then healed by Moses who placed his staff over the bite wound. The wound left a green mark once it was healed, and Goídel's decedents settled in Ireland, which is notoriously free of snakes.

Flag of the United Irishmen

The color has further been associated with Ireland due to the Green Harp flag that was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation in the 1640s. The above referenced image is the closes modern comparison that I could find for reference purposes. The flag was described as a symbol of Ireland's soul, and many variations of this flag as well as other similar green flags exist today. The earliest known record of wearing green on Saint Patrick's Day started as early as 1680 but may have occurred long before then.

Closing

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful celebration day for those that do celebrate, and for those that don't happy Tuesday to you. If you have any other cool bits of Saint Paddy's Day history you'd like to add to this post please feel free to do so I'd love to hear from you! That's all that I have for you guys right now, but I'm hoping to have an Off the Record ready to go this weekend, but we also have Horror Hub and some other fun posts coming up this week. If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by! 

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