St Patrick's Day

The Feast of Saint Patrick is celebrated on the 17th of March, the traditionally-accepted date of Saint Patrick’s death.

Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland, who allegedly wrote the ‘Declaration’, which contains most of what is known about him. It is believed he was actually born in Roman Britain, before being kidnapped at sixteen by Irish raiders. After six years in Ireland as a shepherd, he found God, who told him to flee to the coast, where he escaped back home. Patrick later returned to Ireland to convert the pagans to Christianity. Tradition states that he died on March 17th, and is buried at Downpatrick.

Today, the Feast is celebrated with public parades, traditional Irish music, and wearing green. Interesting to note, the parades started in 18th century America, and did not spread to Ireland until the 20th century.