How long have you known to wear green on St. Patrick’s or else get pinched? Probably as long as you can remember. Every holiday has an inspiration or a root in a myth or historical event, including St. Patrick’s Day, and what better way to prepare for it than to learn this day’s origins?
St. Patrick was a boy named Maewyn Succat who lived in Scotland. But wait! Isn’t St. Patrick’s Day an Irish holiday? Yes! The thing is, his village was raided when he was 14 years old and he was taken as a slave to herd sheep in Ireland. He was a devout Christian, and some legends said he prayed 100 times a day, even though where he was in Ireland was mostly Pagan and Druid. One night six years later, Maewyn had a heaven-sent dream of a boat on the coast, one that would take him home. He found it and it brought him to Britain to reunite with his family. Later, he had another dream in which the people of Ireland asked him to come back and preach to them, so he began to study to be a priest and was ordained by St. Germanus. Maewyn went on to take the name Bishop Patrick and he went back to Ireland for 40 years, in which he converted all of Ireland. He died and was deemed a saint.
Not many people know the history, and most people don’t even celebrate this holiday. Jack Homuth was asked what he does for St. Patrick’s Day. “I just wear green,” he said. And everybody knows about being pinched, whether they were told or learned it the hard way. When Sidney Reppen was asked what his opinion is on the long-standing tradition of pinching, he said, “It’s kind of funny. I don’t like getting pinched, but I like pinching other people.” Both Jack Homuth and Sidney Reppen agreed that any bit of green that people can see should mean they’re exempt.
St. Patrick’s Day is an interesting holiday, but there’s also so much that people don’t know about it. Sometimes people wonder: Why is green the color of St. Patrick’s Day? Because the shamrock became a national symbol in the 18th century. What do leprechauns and pots of gold have to do with it? That happened when a movie called Darby O’Gill and the Little People came out. With a little research, you can learn the origins of any holiday. For now, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Sources: “The History of St. Patrick.” The Asbury Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 25 Jan. 2024, asburyparkstpatricksparade.com/history-of-st-patrick/.
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/celebrations/article/st-patricks-day#:~:text=Green%20was%20finally%20introduced%20to,color%20stuck%20to%20the%20holiday.
VanSchmus, Emily. “This Is Why Leprechauns Are Associated with St. Patrick’s Day.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 19 Feb. 2021, www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-leprechauns-associated-st-patrick-152700252.html.
