Saint Patrick’s Day colloquially St. Paddy’s Day or Paddy’s Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17. read more about The History of Saint Patrick
The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the
Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.
Related sites
Saint Patrick’s Day History History Of St.Patrick’s Day irishabroad
St. Patrick’s day origins
It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The feast day usually falls during Lent; if
it falls on a Friday of Lent (unless it is Good Friday), the obligation to abstain from eating meat can be lifted by the local bishop. The date of the feast is occasionally, yet controversially, moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick’s Day was observed on April 3 in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and happened again in 2008, having been observed on 15 March.
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by the those of Irish descent and increasingly by non-Irish people (usually in New Zealand and North America). Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the color green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink (such as Irish stout, Irish Whiskey or Irish Cream) and attending parades.
Celebrations In The United States
Irish Society of Boston organized what was the first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the colonies on 17 March 1737. The first celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756, and New York’s first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. In 1780, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on 17 March “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence." This event became known as The St. Patrick’s Day Encampment of 1780. Today, Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike.
Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green clothing. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched.
Some cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1961 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and got the idea to turn the river green for St. Patrick’s Day. Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Missouri University of Science and Technology – St Pat’s Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks Kelly green with mops before the annual parade. In Jamestown, New York, the Chadakoin River (a small tributary that connects Conewango Creek with its source at Chautauqua Lake) is dyed green each year.
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sources:
"Saint Patrick’s Day." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 16 Mar 2009, 22:28 UTC. 17 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Patrick%27s_Day&oldid=277741668>.
irishabroad.com http://www.irishabroad.com/stpatrick/
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