Pin on your chamrocks, it´s Saint Patrick´s day!
Green clothes, red beards and moustaches, shamrocks, chocolate… All these things indicate just one thing: today is Saint Patrick´s Day! Mach 17 is the date in which Irish, Americans, and people from some other countries celebrate this religious festivity.
In Spain, and in every corner of the world, we are aware of this tradition. Yeah, we love Irish Pubs! But do we really know the reason for this celebration? To understand this topic a little bit better I asked Meadhb O´halloran, an Irish college student, to tell us how she and her family celebrates this day.
“Well, Saint Patrick´s is a day for wearing green and pin some shamrock on our clothes. It´s a religious tradition, so we go to mass and then we prepare a big dinner for the whole family. There is always a massive parade, but this year, because of the covid-19, it is canceled and we´ll have to stay home. This fact won´t let our celebration go down because we still have chocolate and Irish drinks to celebrate at home with our loved ones”, says Meadbh.
The green color represents spring and joy, the shamrock is a symbol that Saint Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity. And as Meadh said, there is food in abundancy: lamb, potato bread, cabbage, and of course, plenty of beer to drink.
Who was Saint Patrick?
Saint Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of this country. Some known legends are attributed to this saint, like the one that says that the snakes in Ireland had all been banished by Patrick chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. Or the one that says that his walking stick became a growing tree.
Many things are said about this saint, some of them are true and some of them are just a story. Nevertheless, his festivity is, indeed, an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate with friends and family.
May the luck of the Irish be with you and happy Saint Patrick´s Day!
