Who is Saint Patrick? Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

The man we know as Saint Patrick was born in Britain between 387 AD - 390 AD to a Christian family who owned a villa and slaves to tend it. At age sixteen he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he became a slave, tending to sheep for seven years. Patrick escaped his captivity and returned to Britain where he was reunited with his family.

Later Patrick was ordained by the Catholic Church. He returned to Ireland where he was successful converting pagans to Christianity. He lived the rest of his life in Ireland although life was not easy for him there. He died on March 17, 461 AD. By the eighth century he became the Patron Saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick is celebrated throughout the world because of the myths that remain to this day. One myth is that he drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. Some believe it and others say there never were any snakes in Ireland to begin with. Others believe Patrick was a true saint and that symbolically, he drove evil out of Ireland.

Another myth surrounding Saint Patrick is that as a priest, he explained the Holy Trinity to his parishioners by using the three leaves of the clover to represent Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As ages passed, Saint Patrick’s birthday was acknowledged by an Irish priest, and the Irish family might have a large meal that day or they might not. Today Irish descendants around the world celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with feasts, with special Irish blessings, with shamrocks, with green, green, all things green.

On this special Saint Patrick’s Day, I send blessings to you. May the luck of the Irish be yours.



CAN YOU NAME THIS FAMOUS IRISH POET?





THREE IRISH POETS - Yeats, Heaney, and Mudoon.

Find their poems and read them. Or, Look them up on internet, and listen to them read their poems to you.

William Butler Yeats June 1865 - Jan. 1939

Seamus Heaney Born 1939, Nobel Prize Winner, Heaney is considered my many to be the greatest living poet writing in the English language today.

Paul Muldoon, born 1951 in North Ireland. 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Moy Sand and Gravel (pub. 2002) His 10th poetry collection, Horse Latitudes was published in 2006.