Impactful history of St. Patrick's Day

By Brooklyn Steinert

School Life Editor

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated every year on March 17. It started being celebrated here in the U.S. around 400 years ago, but it's been celebrated in Ireland for over 1,500 years.

St. Patrick’s Day was started by a patron saint in Ireland, named St. Patrick. He originally was from Roman Britain, but was sent to Ireland at age 16 as a slave at first.

Later on, though, he decided he wanted to try to convert Ireland to Christianity. He built lots of churches and schools in Ireland. He died on March 17, 461, which is why the holiday takes place on that day.

According to tradition, St. Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) to the Irish.

Originally, the holiday was celebrated as a religious feast in Ireland. Later on, though, the holiday spread to America through Irish immigrants.

Nowadays, there are a lot of parades and, of course, people wearing green.

Another common way to celebrate is eating traditional Irish food, such as corned beef and cabbage. The Chicago River is also dyed green in honor of the holiday.

The four-leaf clover is known as a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day nowadays, but it was originally actually a three-leaf cover. Similarly, the color of St. Patrick's Day was originally blue, but now it’s more common to wear green instead to celebrate the holiday’s Irish origins.

Overall, St. Patrick's Day has a very rich and impactful history.