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Green day: Trivia about St. Patrick and the Irish
By Tamber Weston
March 11, 2005 | When many of us think
of St. Patrick's Day, we think of the color green, four-leaf
clovers, Ireland, leprechauns and pots of gold. What
many of us don't think of is a man named St. Patrick.
Before becoming an Irish saint, Patrick lived in Wales
and went by the name of Maewyn.
Unfortunately Maewyn lacked the luck of the Irish and
spent many of his days (six years) as a slave. During
his time in captivity he converted to Christianity.
He escaped slavery and studied in a monastery where
he decided that it was his mission to convert the people
of Ireland to his new faith. Maewyn adopted the Christian
name Patrick and became the second bishop to Ireland.
He traveled throughout Ireland establishing monasteries
while setting up schools and churches. His efforts were
successful in converting much of the Irish country to
Christianity.
After a 30-year mission in Ireland, Patrick retired.
He died on March 17 in A.D. 461. We commemorate this
day as St. Patrick's Day.
The holiday is surrounded by a lot of Irish folklore.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick
healed the sick and raised people from the dead. It
is also said that he drove all the snakes from Ireland.
One traditional symbol of the day is the shamrock.
Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the
Trinity. He used the shamrock to represent how the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate
elements of the same entity. His followers made it a
custom to wear a shamrock on his feast day.
Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's
Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday -- especially
in America.
The first celebration of St. Patrick's Day in America
was a parade held in New England in the 1700s. The event
was held by Irish people celebrating their heritage.
Today about 34 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry.
That number is almost nine times the population of Ireland
itself (3.9 million).
Irish is the nation's second most frequently reported
ancestry, trailing only German. In Delaware, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, Irish is the leading ancestry group.
With approximately 132,162 Irish descendents in Utah,
Irish is among the top five ancestries in the state.
Furthermore, Irish is among the top five ancestries
in every state but two (Hawaii and New Mexico).
Throughout the years Irish and non-Irish Americans
alike, have added new twists to the holiday.
The three-leaf shamrock is the floral emblem of Ireland;
if found on St. Patrick's Day it is said to bring good
luck. The current trend of looking for a four-leaf clover
on the holiday is supposed to double the finder's luck.
Those who don't find a shamrock on St. Patrick's Day
can consider themselves lucky if they can avoid being
pinched. Years ago schoolchildren came up with the tradition
of pinching anyone who didn't wear green for the holiday.
Another twist to the holiday was likely popularized
by greeting card companies.
According to legend, leprechauns are Irish fairies.
They're unsociable, unfriendly and live alone. They
make shoes and possess hidden pots of gold. If a leprechaun
is caught by a treasure hunter then he must tell where
his treasure is, unless the leprechaun can trick the
hunter and vanish.
To date, the only leprechaun that has been captured
is the one on the box of Lucky Charms cereal.
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