St. Paddy or St. Patty?

Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick is celebrated on March 17th – the day  Saint Patrick,  the patron saint of Ireland, died.

It is told that St. Patrick was responsible for “driving the snakes out of Ireland” which sounds pretty bad-ass and a little strange, but “snakes” most likely means “bad people” and not actual serpents.

Either way. Old St. Patrick was a solid dude.

Since he passed in AD 461 (ish) the celebration has spread throughout the world and as with most wide-spread religion-based holidays (like, oh, Christmas let’s say),  the vast majority of people have completely abandoned all intended meaning and replaced that sentiment with some form of stupidity.

In the case of St. Patrick’s Day, we drink…like savages, dress like leprechauns, and generally get out of hand.

The actual reason we drink on March 17th is because as part of the celebration of Saint Patrick’s life, the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day…so people sort of stock up.

We wear shamrocks because St Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish.

We wear green clothing because back in the 1640s (when the wearing of the green started), the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation.

The Green Harp Flag