Collum's Column - Happy St. Patricks Day!

We are all a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. From Shamrocks to Snakes and Guinness to The Blarney Stone, we are taking a look at some of the lesserknown facts about the world favorite Irish Holiday.

St. Patrick – Neither Irish or named Patrick

St. Patrick… Ireland… St. Patrick’s Day… Simple, right? The man wasn’t even Irish. He was actually born in Britain around the turn of the 4th century. At 16 years old Irish Raiders captured him in midst of an attack on his family’s estate. The Raiders then took him to Ireland and held him captive for 6 years. After escaping, he went back to England for religious training and was sent back to Ireland many years later as a Missionary. St. Patrick was actually born Maewyn Succat. According to legend, when he became a Priest, he changed his name to Patricius or Patrick. The name derives from the Latin term “Father Figure.”

The Blarney Stone

It’s supposed to give you “the gift of gab” but it can also give you a stiff neck and countless germs. The Blarney Stone is a must see tourist destination in Blarney Castle near Cork Ireland. Every year 400,000 visitor’s line up to kiss it in hopes of boasting their eloquence. It isn’t so easy to smooch the stone – one must sit on a ledge while someone holds their legs then bend over backwards while holding iron rails until your face is level with the stone. Congratulations! You have now kissed a surface that has been kissed by hundreds of thousands of people. Hopefully the gift of gab is worth the bacteria! choose the Shamrock as symbol of the Christian Church. The leaves were meant to represent the Holy Trinity… the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit joined together by a common stalk. Apparently the Shamrock campaign worked. By the time of St. Patrick’s death on March 17, 461, he had created a number of churches, schools and monasteries dedicated to the faith.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The first parade wasn’t held in Ireland, it began in the United States, well technically “The Colonies.” In 1762 Irish Soldiers serving in the English Army celebrated the holiday by marching through the streets of New York City. By 1848, the parade was an official city event. Today, nearly 3 million people line New York City streets to watch the 5 hour long, 150,000 participant procession.

Chicago invented its own St, Patrick Day tradition. They dye the Chicago River green. In 1962 sanitation workers realized that the green vegetable dye they used to check for illegally dumped sewage could double as a St. Patrick’s Day decoration. The city has been dying its waterways ever since. Unfortunately, the color only lasts for a few hours.

Irish Bars Were Closed

Ireland has been officially celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since 1903, when Irish politician James O’Marra introduced a bill in Westminster that made it an official public holiday back in his homeland. Not until the 1960’s could you find revelers celebrating at a bar. Ireland is heavily catholic, and St. Patrick’s Day falls during Lent which means that although celebratory feasts and drink were allowed, an all-night party seemed a little too sinful. Fearing excessive drinking Ireland introduced a law that forced all Pubs to close on March 17. Luckily for beer makers (Guinness) the law was repealed in 1961.The Irish are now free to celebrate the holiday as Americans do.

The Legendary Snakes

According to legend, St, Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland in the 5th Century. Of course, there weren’t any slithering reptiles to drive off the island. Ireland is one of a few countries where snakes do not live. The reference is thought to be metaphorical; St. Patrick who converted Pagans to Christianity was the man who supposedly drove “Evil” Non-Christians from the land.

As I said... we are all a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. So spend this St. Patrick’s Day celebrating in your local community’s festivities enjoying parades, eating all your favorite Irish foods and everything “Green” that goes along with it.