Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2013 Everyone

By Nathan Young on March 17, 2013

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Many people celebrate by wearing green and going out for a beer. In most parts of Alabama, unless you bought your drinks already, you aren’t drinking beer today! St. Patrick’s Day is also called the Feast of Saint Patrick. This is a cultural and religious holiday for Ireland but many people across the world celebrate it! The holiday was named after Saint Patrick, the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland.

Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday’s tradition of alcohol consumption.

Saint Patrick’s real birth name was Maewyn Succat. It wasn’t until he was in the Church that it was changed to Patricius, or Patrick. And St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to pagan Irish, forever linking the shamrock with him and the Irish in the popular imagination. He would tie shamrocks to his robes, which is why the color green is worn. Most people thinks of green during St. Patrick’s Day. But did you know the color most associated with St. Patrick is blue. The Order of St. Patrick was established in 1783 as the senior order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Ireland. The color associated with the honor needed to differentiate it from the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Thistle. So they went with blue.

Most people thinks of the dancing group Riverdance when St. Patrick’s Day rolls around. This group has danced since 1994 and are a moment that is considered a significant watershed in Irish culture. Riverdance is the story of the Irish culture and of the Irish immigration to America. Here is a video from the Wall Street Journal teaching you a few key Irish step moves for St. Patrick’s Day.

Here is another video from Barely Political. It shows Kristen Stewart explaining St. Patrick’s Day in a funny way!

And I can not forget the Alabama tradition for St. Patrick’s Day. If you have not seen the story about the Mobile Leprechaun, watch the video below! Then watch the auto-tuned version from The Gregory Brothers. Alabama is definitely home to some weird stories!