St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day                                

On 17th March, Irish people celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It is a well-known celebration around the world, not only in Ireland.

Some parades take place in the USA such as in New York City. You can watch a video and see this parade.

New York's parade

Even in some European countries, Irish communities celebrate this festivity. For instance, you can see some Irish typical clothes in Irish pubs in Europe.

Who was St. Patrick? 

St. Patrick was the first bishop to arrive to Ireland in order to christianize it in the fourth century A.D.

When he was about 16, he was captured from Wales by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family.

After entering the Church, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he worked.

By the seventh century, he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

You can watch the following video to learn more about his history :

Origins


How do they celebrate St. Patrick's?

You can visit the following website

St Patrick's Day 2012


Other traditions include greening some rivers such as Chicago's river. You can see an example in the following website.

Green Chicago River


 

 Some other icons related to Ireland are :

Let's finish with some Irish blessings on St Patrick's Day: