Happy Green Beer and Being Irish Day Internet, but what exactly is the history of st patricks day?
I clearly recall when I was younger much less emphasis placed on “holidays”… You made some construction paper cut outs.. and your teacher printed out a word search or two.. Don’t forget “wear something green to school day”. But was there all this commercialized hype?
Mcd’s did the shamrock shake.. but i’ve seen several “green meal deals”around town this year. Also on the list:
• Popular coffee chains have “irish coffee with green foam”
• Makeup stores offering discounts on all make up with green colors
• Major tech companies talking about “green selfies”
…. all in name of some kinda vague Irish history.. 🙂
The History of St Patricks Day
The history of st patricks day is not quite what we might think it is. You see… St Patrick wasn’t even Irish.. Seems he was born British and later returned to Ireland as a missionary… Where he was said to use the shamrock to point out the holy Christian Trinity with the 3 leafs… but actually there is no real proof such a thing ever happened.
And what about those little good luck men? Leprechaun might go back to the 8th century and the word “luchorpán”, which means “little body”(a compound of the roots lú (small) and corp (body)) to describe water spirits and the mythical fairy type creatures said to be no taller than a small child.
Green food, green bagels, green coffee, green beer… kind of has a more sinister meaning if you look at the great potato famine of Ireland in the 1840’s. Many Irish during this time were starving and actually ate grass to survive. People we said to die with “green mouths” from eating so much grass. Eck.
But that is not the St Patricks most of us are celebrating today. In fact, St Patricks Day in the Green Beer and Corned Beef sense… is mostly an American holiday… Started by the large amount of Irish immigrants who came over to the USA. Corned Beef isn’t even eaten in Ireland. Totally an American thing. George Washington actually gave the day off to Irish solders to participate in the parade and other festivities had in many American cities. Today many countries around the world celebrate it, including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia… Is it celebrated where you are in the world? And Sláinte (health cheers in Irish!) to you and yours!
