Regicide Articles

With all of the drinking and St. Patrick’s decorations involved in celebrating St. Patty’s Day in America it is easy to forget that the holiday is actually very religious in nature, and even the traditions that we have originate in religious symbolism. In fact, old St. Patrick is famous to us because of his efforts as a Bishop to spread the word of Jesus to the pagan inhabitants of the Emerald Isle, thus converting them to Christianity and “driving out the snakes” (druids).

St. Patrick did this by traveling across the countryside preaching the gospel to all of the Irish that he encountered, building churches and schools in every town that he could. The shamrock became the most famous St. Patrick’s decorations because, as story has it, St. Patrick used the three leaves of the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. This is why many devout Irish Catholics still pin a shamrock to their vests on St. Patrick’s Day. One interesting note is that, traditionally, blue was the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day and worn by people celebrating the holiday, but over time it was replaced by green symbolizing the green grasses of the Emerald Isle rather than Patrick’s own colors. So if you want to create quite the stir next year try wearing an outfit of blue to the holiday party and stun the other guests with your knowledge of the true traditions behind it.

As with many other modern holidays a large amount of our St. Patrick’s Day traditions have been lost over the centuries and mixed with irrelevant symbols and rituals, like leprechauns and drinking ourselves silly after the parade. Yet it is always interesting to take a moment and reflect back on the true origins of the holiday and the traditions that surrounded it for centuries before evolving into what we are used to seeing today.