St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day: a secular holiday where everyone is Irish and the beer is green. However, there are some interesting facts to this traditionally Roman Catholic holiday, which like St. Valentine’s Day has gone the way of Hallmark.

A little known fact about the saint, who is so often associated with drunken endeavors, is that, according to AmericanCatholic.org, Saint Patrick is the patron saint of engineers. He was credited with this patronage due to his work in Ireland with instructing the Irish to use a “lime mortar instead of dry masonry” according to the Herrick Memorial Library at Alfred University. Moreover, the library states that he became the patron saint of ceramic engineers by his initiation of ceramic works which transformed into organized crafts.

Another interesting religious point associated with the holiday is the Shamrock. According to catholic.org, Saint Patrick “used the shamrock to explain the Trinity,” with its three leaves being representative of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing as separate elements through the same entity as symbolized through the connection at the base through the shamrock’s stem. Since that time the shamrock has often been linked with both Saint Patrick and the Irish.

Additionally, the number three has been rumored to be Ireland’s lucky number. Since a shamrock has three leaves, it is indicative of all the connections of three, such as love, valor, and wit or faith, hope, and charity. Traditionally, numbers were very important as Celtic symbols. “Everything good in Ireland comes in threes. The rhythm of storytelling in the Irish tradition is based on threefold repetition. This achieves both intensification and exaggeration. Even in today’s quality pub talk, a raconteur can rarely resist a third adjective, especially if it means stretching a point.” according to www.theholidayspot.com.

A final interesting tradition is that of the leprechaun. A leprechaun is actually an Irish fairy. But this fairy is no Tinkerbell; they are small, unfriendly old men who live alone and make shoes in their free time. As anyone who has watched a Lucky Charms commercial can tell you, they also possess hidden treasure, most often in the form of a pot of gold. According to the legends, you find a leprechaun by following the sound of his shoemaker’s hammer. (if you know what that sounds like, you are set). Once you find him, you can threaten to beat him up and he will tell you where the treasure is. However, being the cunning little creature he is, if you take your eye off him for even a second, he will vanish and you are out of luck.

Saint Patrick’s Day is pretty neat even without the green beer or the huge influx of Irish population for a day. Although, it no longer holds the religious connotation that it once did, everyone can enjoy this holiday. Just don’t forget to wear green!