How do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland?

As a kid in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was always one of our favourite days of the year. First of all, it's a day off school, and you get to go see the colourful parade in the local town or city. The week before that special day was spent retelling the story of St. Patrick, colouring in pictures of him and shamrocks.

The focus on the day is religion, as the overwhelming majority of Irish people are Catholics, and St. Patrick was credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. In my home, we would dress in our best clothes that morning and head off to mass in the parish church, followed by a trip into the city to see the parade of marching bands, sports teams and religious groups. Some would even throw sweets to the crowd; very exciting for all the little kids! As an adult, the focus changes to spending the evening socialising with friends in a cosy pub, preferably with a fire. 

So why is the shamrock the symbol of the day? Well, when St. Patrick was explaining the concept of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit being three separate entities, but still one being, people found it confusing. St. Patrick picked up a shamrock, and showing it to the crowd, used it as an example of how there were three parts that made up one thing. From then on, the shamrock became a symbol of St. Patrick, Christianity and Ireland. 

So this St. Patrick's day, why not wear some green, and learn a little more about the culture of your neighbours across the water. Listen to some traditional Irish music online, watch some videos of our national sports (hurling or Gaelic football) and drink a cup of tea in front of a fire. 
 

Lá fhéile Pádraig shona daoibh!
(Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!)