His Holiday & Traditions.

His Holiday

St. Patrick’s Day has become more than just Patrick’s holiday of remembrance of his life and deeds. Beyond that of his myths and legacy. It is a celebration of all things Irish now and for those yet to come. What had started out as a feast day boomed into green beer and parades. With businesses forming specifically for the holiday much like that of: Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day. The day has its own subculture and is a world wide phenomenon. Non Catholics and even non Christians get into the vibe. The obvious exceptions being the Arians, wiccans, and modern pagans who despise the holiday for valid reasons considering what they personally believe. Aside from them, the Irish have made it more about them as a people, their struggles, and accomplishments than just that of Patrick himself. From my research, I think Patrick would had wanted it that way. He was that passionate about his converts and the Irish people that he dedicated and risked his life for them. He made sure that their voices were heard. His holiday definitely sees to that.

Traditions.

St. Patrick’s Day traditions are many and varied in origin. The how and why such strange customs and icons were  associated with it were a bit tricky to pin point, but only a wee bit. You will find leprechauns, shamrocks, four leaf clovers, Celtic tribal art, and abundances of green and even orange all over the place.

• Pinching is thought to had started in American classrooms. It is strictly an American obsession. Kids were also a major driving force behind wearing green during the holiday. The school children would pinch anyone who did not wear green.  Reason for this seems to be that the early Irish immigrants to the U.S. (after the Potato Famine) were oppressed and not welcomed with tolerance’s warm embrace. The Irish were thought of as drunkards. Many businesses had ‘Irish need not apply” or simply “No Irish!” signs in their windows. When the holiday became more mainstream with their arrival to the U.S., the adults would pinch anyone who was Irish that did not wear green for lack of pride and respect for their heritage. The color being  symbolic of the proud Irish rebels who stand up to the English occupants that persecute them.  It was at this time that the shamrock evolved into a political statement of Irish nationalism. Children took pinching a step further and pinched anyone who did not wear green.  However, there is another and far less likely answer a lot of people believe to be true…
  WikiAnswers says:

  “Pinching those not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is an American tradition, having really nothing to do with Ireland or St. Patrick. It’s thought that the pinching started in the early 1700s, about the time that awareness of St. Patrick’s as a holiday came to the fore, too, in Boston, in the Massachusetts colony. They thought if you wore green, it made you invisible to the Leprechauns, which was good because they would pinch anyone they could see. So the pinching is to warn and remind you about the Leprechauns.”

• Why green? Nowadays as you read above, it represents Irish pride, namely the rebel. But, as to why they chose green to begin with is a confusing  pursuit.
  

  The Ireland Coat of Arms has a blue background not green. Note the official emblem is a clàirseach Ghàidhealach (Gaelic harp) and not a shamrock.

  For starters, there are many different possible sources for this choice, but fewer concrete reasons.  Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, its original flag was green. On the current flag the green symbolizes the older majority of the Gaelic tradition of Ireland or argumentatively as the representative color of the Protestant and non-sectarian “Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick“. The color had long been tied with Ireland as a nation, as well as the revolutionary groups within its borders. When Ireland was fighting for independence in the 1700’s, it was worn as a color of sympathy for the Irish cause. Because of this, wearing the color was outlawed in the 1770’s. The color was everywhere the Irish were including in their folklore. Leprechauns became green in modern times through association.  But the truth is leprechauns of legend originally wore red according to Wikipedia, and Ireland’s national color is St. Patrick’s blue even at the time when the Irish immigrated to America during the potato famine. Evidence can be seen on the Ireland Coat of Arms.  Not only that but sources such as Sean Markey of the National Geographic have it on good authority;

“But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky, says Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site.

As Haggerty explains, Irish folklore holds that green is the favorite color of the Good People (the proper name for faeries). They are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.”

So what really is  the reason for its use?  Maybe it has to do with symbolizing spring time, or maybe it has some Celtic and druid influence with green being the dominant color of nature. While many possible reasons attribute, right now it appears that the shamrock is the valid reason for its dominance.  Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick’s Day as early as the 17th century. The shamrock is the unofficial symbol of Ireland and the holiday since it was allegedly St. Patrick’s preferred teaching tool. Since it is worn and shown like a badge, from its history with druids, St. Patrick, and its modern political symbolism, it is a safe bet that is why the color was chosen.

• Irish bacon and cabbage is the official meal of St. Patrick’s Day. Corned beef while used nowadays is not Irish.  Why do people eat Corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day? Well, the  poor Irish American immigrants could not afford or find any of the traditional Irish bacon used for the feast. So they used corned beef instead  that they had borrowed from their Jewish neighbors. It then became an American tradition for the celebration not an Irish one.
• Why dye the rivers green? The custom started in Chicago thanks to Stephen M. Bailey. Plumbers were checking for sewer leaks and thought that the dye they used to check would be a perfect match for St. Patrick’s Day. For the full version see the story behind dyeing the river. Ever since many cities try to duplicate the exact color and fail.
• Why dye beer green? This tradition is strictly American and it seems to have overlapped from Green Beer Day, a spring break custom started at the University of Miami, Ohio. People may have mistaken it to be a part of St. Patrick’s Day or simply just liked the idea since it matched the color scheme.