The Surprising History of St. Patrick's Day

The celebration of St. Patrick’s day greets us each year on March 17th with shamrocks, leprechauns, and all things Irish. While it seems like just a fun end-of-winter tradition, there’s more to this “happy-go-lucky” holiday than just four leaf clovers and Irish step dancing. 

St. Patrick’s Day gets its name from a man named Maewyn Succat, or St. Patrick. He was born in 386 AD in Roman Britain to a family of high social status. When Patrick was just sixteen years old, he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland. When he arrived, he was sold as a slave. His master Milchu was a high priest of Druidism, a sect of the Pagan religion that held significant power over Ireland at that time. Throughout his six years as a slave, Patrick became deeply religious and dedicated to the Christain God through daily prayers administered by Milchu.

At around 408 AD, Patrick decided to escape enslavement and return to Britain due to a dream that prompted him to do so. Once settled as a free man, Patrick desired to climb the religious ranks of Christianity in order to achieve his vision of returning to Ireland and spreading the Gospel. This was something that he had aspired to do since his enslavement. 

So, how do leprechauns, shamrocks, and the lucky nature of St. Patrick’s day tie into this religious holiday? Well, after Patrick returned to Ireland, the citizens were so grateful for his service as a missionary that they created the festive holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, in his honor. As celebrations became more formally recognized and celebrated, symbols like the shamrock along with celebratory parties were introduced to the culture. Since leprechauns happen to be a common mystical fable among people of Ireland, people tend to associate them and similar Irish tokens with the Irish holliday.

Despite the fact that St. Patrick’s day comes and goes each year with leprechaun traps and green shamrocks, the surprising deeper root of this holiday can help us better understand and appreciate the culture of the Irish, along with ol’ St. Patrick himself.