Udisha
Annual celebration on March 17
St. Patrick's Day is an important annual festival celebrated in Ireland. Celebrated on March 17 every year, this cultural and religious holiday honours the patron saint of Ireland: St. Patrick. Today, it has spilled beyond Ireland and become a celebration of culture, food and the theme colour is green!
History and folklore
St. Patrick was actually born in Britain and was brought to Ireland by pirates who captured him as slave when he was 16. Following his escape, he became a Christian missionary and worked in Ireland. St. Patrick's Day supposedly commemorates the death anniversary of the saint.
Symbols and myths
The famous symbol of St. Patrick is the Shamrock, which is a three-leaf clover. The three leaves of the Shamrock stand for: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Moreover, according to folklore, he helped chase all snakes out of Ireland, a country which never had them!
The colour green
While green has become the colour of the festival, thanks to the lush green landscape and scenery of Ireland, blue was the original colour of St. Patrick's day. The blue was replaced by green in the 18th century to symbolise Irish nationalism.
Massive celebrations
Today, huge parades paint the city of Dublin in bright green as people get together to celebrate with food, music and jubilance. Big parades and celebrations also take place in the American cities of New York, Boston and Chicago.