Monday, March 17, 2008

A Wee Bit O' History......


St. Patrick's Day honors St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. We celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17. Americans march in parades, dance the Irish jig and gather to sing Irish songs. People wear green in memory of Ireland, the Emerald Isle and wear shamrocks, clover with three leaves.March 17 was not the day St. Patrick was born but the day he died. Even though we don't know the date of his birth, most scholars believe the year was 385 AD and the year of his death was 461 AD.

St. Patrick was born in Wales, studied religion to become a priest and then went to Ireland to teach the people about God. There are many wonderful stories about St. Patrick, some true and some not true. The most famous legend is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. This did not happen but the Irish will tell you that you cannot find a snake throughout the whole country of Ireland.
Thanks to Alphabet-Soup for this brief history of Saint Patrick's Day.

3 comments:

Debs said...

Love the history lesson. :)

Glad there is NO quiz. LOL

Unknown said...

Hi!

This is good to know.
Thanks!

Melanie said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!