St. Paddy's Day

By Mateo Urresta Garzon

I bet you didn't know these St. Patrick's Day curiosities. Saint Patrick's Day is here! The day we celebrate Iralands culture, history, customs and that joy for life those people have. St. Patrick’s Day first appeared in the 17th century to commemorate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, whose achievements included bringing Christianity to Ireland and liberating the country of snakes. But what can we learn about the world-famous fourth-century saint and his annual St. Patrick's Day celebration of Irish culture and tradition? First of all, Saint Patrick wasn't Irish… and his name wasn't Patrick. The name of this Saint was Maewyn Succat, yes Maewyn, not Merlin or Madelyn, and this name is believed to be of Welsh or Latin origin. He was born in Scotland at the end of the fourth century after Christ, and he moved to Ireland after escaping from slavery; there, he began his long evangelizing journey and changed his name to Patrick. I bet you didn't know this, but Saint Patrick was not Irish; he was English born in Scotland or Wales of Roman parents. Later after moving to Ireland and starting his evangelistic journey and work, there was what made him the Patron Saint of Ireland.According to the legend, he became an influential Christian figure after many miracles. Still, the one that is claimed is that he freed all of Ireland from the plague of snakes that existed at that time, and nowadays, because of that, there are no longer snakes in all of Ireland.In theory, the primary colour of this holiday should be blue, not green. St. Patrick's Day is dominated by the iconic emerald hue, from dressing green to painting our faces green to even dyeing the Chicago River green. But in fact, Saint Patrick himself used the colour blue, and probably if he were alive, he would be shocked if he knew that he was associated with such a different colour.Green became the official colour of the holiday in the 18th century when it was linked to the Irish independence movement.Saint Patrick was famous for spreading Christianity in Ireland, and the shamrock is a renowned symbol of the festival dedicated to him.But the shamrock was not just an Irish symbol that was absorbed into the celebrations of later years and was directly associated with Saint Patrick's work while he was alive. He used the shamrock as a metaphor for Christianity, and the symbol of the three leaves represents the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.