03/17/2026
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday celebrated March 17. Americans celebrate this holiday with a range of traditional-in-America activities including the famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City (which has been held in one form or another since 1762), plus the “wearing of the green,” green dye in water-based landmarks such as the Chicago River and more.
A Brief History of St. Patrick’s Day...
St. Patrick’s Day has its origins in, you guessed it, the man known as St. Patrick who was actually not born in Ireland. St. Patrick was born in Britain around the fourth century. According to multiple sources, at age 16, St. Patrick (who was not then a saint, obviously) was kidnapped and sold into slavery.
History.com reports that at this time, he was sold a slave “to a Celtic priest in Northern Ireland” where he endured forced labor for six years before escaping back to Britain. Patrick would return to Ireland as a Christian missionary, going on to found schools, churches, and monasteries. He died on March 17, 461 and was later named as a saint and eventually became known as the patron saint of Ireland.
After toiling for six years as a shepherd, he escaped back to Britain. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary.
St. Patrick’s Day: The Early Years...
The earliest celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, affectionately known by some as St. Paddy’s Day, is recorded as March 17, 1631. The St. Patrick legend would grow over time, to include stories of how he “drove all the snakes from Ireland” (this notion crops up around the seventh century) and used the shamrock as a method of teaching religious precepts such as the Christian notion of the divine trinity.
Information and image copied from Veteran.com.
