I’m certain most of us know about the charming St. Patrick, who chased the snakes from Ireland and has a feast day named after him. Although modern times see this festival as more as a booze-up, he is still remembered and honoured for being a great man.

Along with this feast day comes the chance to drink and be merry, to ‘don the green’ and celebrate all things Irish – from the music, to the food, to the horrible way other nationalities manage to mangle the quaint Irish accent. After all, as the saying goes “everyone’s Irish on St Patrick’s Day”.

Origin

Kidnapped as a boy, the brave young man, later known as St Patrick, escaped his Irish captors and returned to his homeland of Welsh / English / French soil (it’s a couple of centuries ago, so his land of birth is quite debated from site to site). He studied to become a priest and felt a calling to return to the Emerald Isles he’d escaped from, to spread the message of Christianity to the local pagans and heathens.

After his return to Irish soil, one of his main teaching tools was the humble three-leaved shamrock – a visible display of the trinity of God. Over the centuries, this small symbol of Ireland became synonymous with Ireland’s patron, St Patrick – and the trinity.

St Patrick is reputed to have driven all snakes from Ireland, but as it’s highly unlikely that there were ever snakes living in Ireland; it is more commonly presumed that it meant he’d driven all pagan druids from Irish shores as they were noted for having snakes tattooed on their bodies.

Blue was the original St Paddy’s Day colour, but since Ireland is known as the “Emerald Isle”(and as the shamrock is green and as green was associated with otherworldly entities), the traditional colour was changed to green sometime in the 17^th century.

It is believed that Saint Patrick died on the 17^th of March during the 5^th century – which was surprisingly fortunate as no other saint had yet claimed that day. In the 1600s, several hundreds of years after St Patrick’s death when his popularity and feast day had spread through most of Europe, the Catholic Church finally decided to include his death day on the liturgical calendar.

Traditions

Drinking a traditional pint of Guinness, or a green-dyed beer, is a common sight on St Patrick’s Day.

Although anyone Irish tends to avoid the ‘holiday themed’ drinks like the plague and prefers to stick to a real ale or stout.  The traditional Irish “cheers” is “sláinte”, pronounced slan-tcha, and is a toast to good health. Avoid making this toast if you’re drinking a green beer, as noted for the reasons above.

Eating foods that are only green (or dyed green) is another trend for this festival.

Cabbage and corned beef, Irish stews, and dishes with heaps of potatoes are popular items to eat; and these are served in numerous pubs around the world as traditional Irish meals.

The Irish are not lightweights, so those who get drunk and disorderly a few hours after starting the festivities, are viewed as such by the real Irish, who can keep going for hours.

5 Places to have a pint:

Keen to enjoy a traditional St Patrick’s Day? Check out the below Irish pubs and restaurants. Most of these will have a celebration on Sunday 17^th March, though the official St Patrick’s Day date for 2013 is the 18^th of March:

The Dubliners – Cape Town

Brazen Head – Bloemfontein

Paddy’s Corner – Johannesburg

Shamrock Inn – Durban

Ale House – Mpumalanga

Irish Blessing attributed to Saint Patrick:

“May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, may the rains fall soft upon your fields, and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.”

Let us know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day this year?

Main image courtesy of Jpmpinmontreal (Flickr)