🍀 SAINT PATRICK’s Day 2025 – Mar 17

SAINT PATRICK’s Day ORIGIN & HISTORY

SAINT PATRICK’s Day is celebrated on the 17th Day in March and with it the luck of the Irish & all things green. Originally set aside to honor St. Patrick as the patron saint of Ireland, it has developed a time-honored global festivity of Irish culture.

In 1631 the Roman Catholic Church determined March 17 as a feast day honoring Saint Patrick usually falling on Lent where alcohol was forbidden by the Church. But on Saint Patrick’s feast day, booze was permitted until lawmakers made all pubs close during the holiday until it popularly was rescinded during the 1970s. In the 1990s, Irish tourism started to take off when the governances started a national campaign to woo Americans over to celebrate Irish heritage through our beloved SAINT PATRICK’s Day and pump some much-needed cash into their economy.

The tradition of the SAINT PATRICK’s Day parade first started on March 17, 1601, in the region known as Saint Augustine, Florida USA. It was set up by the Spanish colony’s governor. In 1737 soldiers from Ireland who were serving in the British military at the time marched in Boston and NYC with fifes and drums.

Early evidence suggests the man wore BLUE and not green. But hey, who could argue with the Irish flag, rolling lush green hills, and the shamrocks. In 1798, supporters of the Irish revolution used green to symbolize their fight for independence.

They first started out as politically symbolic and over time gained strength in popularity. Ultimately large parades spread to Boston, Chicago, and Savannah. But during the COVID-19 virus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, parades around the country were canceled for the first time ever in its 258-year history.

HOW to Celebrate & Observe SAINT PADDY’s Day?

Not sure how to LOVE the day? We’ve got a few interesting ideas to consider that may help get you started.

Here are some activities that you can do on SAINT PATRICK’s Day!

💙 GREEN with envy

Wear something green on this day – anything. Pinch someone who isn’t wearing green although you might become a lonely leprechaun at the end of the day and not be invited to any more St Paddy’s Day parties. Try some green beer or Guinness starting your pub crawl.

💙 Stand with the IRISH

Eat some Irish food, cook an Irish meal, listen to some Irish music, do a little Irish jig, watch an Irish movie, or better yet one filmed in Ireland. Learn some Gaelic like Éire go Brách.

💙 RAISE Social Awareness

Use social media posts with the hashtags #StPatricksDay, #SaintPatricksDay, #StPaddysDay, #StPattysDay, #CulturalHolidays, #MarchHolidays, #Holiday, #FindADayToLOVE, #iHEARTdays to support the importance of celebrating, promoting, and sharing with the world why you ❤️ SAINT PATRICK’s Day.

LEARN more about the history & culture behind ST PATRICK’s Day

History of Saint Patrick’s Day for KIDS

The Unbelievably Smooth Gardiner Brothers
with their 9/8 or slip jig timing ❣️

ELEVEN Fun Facts you never knew about SAINT PATRICK’s Day

1. Of course, St Patrick wasn’t Irish at all; he was born in Britannia. Unknown exactly where he was born but some think it was the Scottish lowlands or even Wales.
2. His name wasn’t even Patrick, he was born Maewyn Succat but later changed it to Patricius or Patrick.
3. There were no reptiles for Patrick to banish from the Land of Saints and Scholars. Legend has him fasting for 40 days and 40 nights atop the Hill of Tara where they slithered up to attack and he drove them into the nearby sea.
4. Irish slave traders captured Patrick when he was a 16-year-old lad and sold him to a Celtic priest in Northern Ireland where he had to work tending to sheep & pigs for six long years.
5. He eventually escaped back to Britain where he always would browbeat himself that this happened to him for not being steadfast enough with God and committing a grave sin he never revealed in his writings.
6. In his 40s, he returned as Éire’s second bishop and helped to bring Christianity to the island and quell the pagan chieftains.
7. Children on the Emerald Isle are taught that St Patrick would pick up and wear a seamróg or young clover to explain his holy trinity beliefs. But history suggests otherwise as there is no mention of the plant during this time.
8. Early evidence suggests the man wore BLUE and not green. But hey, who could argue with the Irish flag, rolling lush green hills, and the shamrocks. In 1798, supporters of the Irish revolution used green to symbolize their fight for independence.
9. Corned Beef & Cabbage was created in America as a cheaper substitute to the traditional Irish ham & cabbage for Irish-Americans with little money. They would buy leftover corned beef from tea trading ships with China, boil the beef two times, then boil one last time with the cabbage too in order to remove some of the salty brine.
10. The name Patrick, Padraig, or Paddy means “nobleman”.
11. In 1962, Chicago dumped 100 lbs of green dye into the downtown portion of the Chicago River. It left the river emerald green for a week and thus began this annual tradition you can only see in the Windy City. The dye is no longer oil-based and starts as an orange powder before hitting the water from one motorboat and a second one stirs it in!

Famous PEOPLE also born on March 17th

• Nat “King” Cole

  American pop/jazz vocalist & swing pianist best known for his smooth voice and timeless hits such as “Unforgettable”, “Mona Lisa”, and “The Christmas Song”. Born 1919.
  

  Bestseller No. 1 The Very Best Of Nat King Cole $12.33

  Bestseller No. 2 75 Greatest Hits of Nat King Cole (3 CD Boxset) $16.97

  Bestseller No. 3 Nat "King" Cole - All Time Greatest Hits $24.99

  NATHANIEL COLES Quote

  “I’m an interpreter of stories. When I perform it’s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.”

• Bobby Jones

  American amateur golfer & lawyer with 13 major titles. Best known for designing the Augusta National Golf Club and helping to found the prestigious Masters Tournament. To this day he remains the only golfer ever to win four major championships in a single year dubbed Grand Slam of Golf in 1930. Born 1902.

  BOBBY JONES Quote

  “Some people think they are concentrating when they’re merely worrying.”

• Gottlieb Daimler

  German engineer & industrialist inventor of the first motorized carriage and motorized quadricycle best known for founding Daimler Motors which would later become Mercedes-Benz. He also pioneered internal-combustion engines and created a liquid petroleum-fueled engine that could run at high speed. Born 1834.

  GOTTLIEB DAIMLER Quote

  “The best or nothing at all.”

Future DATES for SAINT PATRICK’s Day

St Patrick’s Day FAQ

Why do we wear GREEN on St. Patrick’s day?

• A long-standing tradition on Saint Patrick’s Day is to wear green thereby making you invisible to those classic dastardly fairy leprechaun creatures; this was popularized by Irish immigrants to the United States. Leprechauns pinch anyone who they can see, and therefore if you aren’t wearing green … you get pinched, sometimes hard.

Why are there no SNAKES in Ireland?

• Ireland is an island that was separated for some time from the European continental shelf. And it was too cold for the cold-blooded creatures during the last Ice Age until about 10,000 years ago. Only Great Britain was connected to Europe via a land bridge until about 6,500 years ago. Once the earth warmed snakes were out of luck. New Zealand also has no native snakes which is interesting because its neighbor Australia has some of the most venomous ones around. NZ was always an island of birds before man came.

Why does Ireland have no TREES?

• During the 20th and 21st centuries, the necessity for wood became so paramount through various initiatives that sadly forest levels never have recovered.

Why we L💜VE SAINT PATRICK’s Day

This is a day no matter where you are in the world, you’re invited to become Irish for one day. You can wear your identity proudly, don’t cover up your freckles, don’t serve up dinner without some sort of potato, prank your Aunt Mary, then confess to Father Ted that the only Gaelic you know is An bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas?

1. GREEN New Deal

   Even AOC would have us thinking green is the way to go. Why St Paddy’s Day is the greenest as they come! Green beer, green waterways, green floats, green striped socks, green nails, green hair. If little green men were to come down from outer space they would think they stumbled upon their long-lost distance cousins.

2. LEPRECHAUNS

   Now some would have you believe who doesn’t love cranky little leprechauns. But they would be a little on the impish side wouldn’t they – always pinching, snickering, flaunting their magical power with their wee little selves. They’re crabby because they have to cobble together & fix other woodland magical creatures’ shoe buckles. I’d be a little grumpy (I mean sensitive) too. Hey … at least there’s the pot of gold at end of every rainbow.

Luck Of The IRISH