Saint Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland.
Saint Patrick was born in the year 385 and died on March 17th around the year 460.
Saint Patrick’s festivity has a pagan origin based on the worship of the sun.
Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries around the world.
Many people wear green on this day. Green is an Irish colour for a few reasons:
– The first reason is because the green shamrock leaf is a symbol of Saint Patrick and Ireland. Shamrock is the common name for several kind of three-leaved clovers native to Ireland.
Three is Ireland’s magic number and the Irish say three-leaved shamrocks bring good luck.
– The second reason is because Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle” because it has lots of green pastures.
ST PATRICK’S LEGENDS
There are legends that go along with Saint Patrick’s Day. A popular legend is about the leprechaun.
Leprechauns are tiny people dressed in green and they collect pots of gold. The legend says that if you catch a leprechaun, he will lead you to his pot of gold. Leprechauns hide their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And if you are lucky enough to find a lepechaun, don’t take your eyes off him, because he’ll dissapear with his pot of gold.
According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes in Ireland out of the country and into the sea.
Saint Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated with a parade. The one in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, is known to some as the Irish Mardi Gras.
The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in New York City. It lasts for hours.
Then, try this quiz clicking on the image below.
Don’t forget to wear something green next Thursday and Friday!
Text extracted from Our English Corner Blog.