Saint Patrick’s Day, also known as Saint Patty’s Day, is a holiday that takes place on March 17 every year. The holiday started in 1631 as a religious holiday honoring the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is widely celebrated around the world but is most popular in Ireland. The holiday has changed over the years into a celebration of Irish culture with parades, special foods, music, dancing, drinking, and a lot of the color green.  

When thinking about St. Patrick’s Day, most people think of a four-leaf clover. Each leaf represents something different: faith, hope, love, and luck. The four-leaf clover was given the phrase “the luck of the Irish.” 

Another thing associated with St. Patrick’s day is the color green. During this holiday, a tradition is to wear green and if you aren’t wearing green you get pinched. 

The color green is also now associated with St. Patrick’s Day because of the shamrock that St. Patrick may have used to teach about the holy trinity. Makayla Liverpool, a sophomore at LRHS says, “On St. Patrick’s Day I always remember to wear green because I don’t want to get pinched!” But the first color association with St. Patrick was light blue!  

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated all across the United States today. But while it was making its way to the states, emigrants transformed this holiday into a big celebration. Cities with the highest number of Irish emigrants had the biggest celebrations! The first St Patrick’s Day Parade in the United States was in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737, including many shamrocks, music, floats, and items dyed green, according to Liverpool.

On St. Patrick’s Day, a typical traditional Irish meal includes corned beef, shepherd’s pie, Irish soda bread, colcannon, and cabbage. There are plenty more meals related to the Irish according to Food Network’s “42 Best St. Patrick’s Day Recipes.” 

A leprechaun is one of the mythical creatures of St. Patrick’s Day, which produced another reason to wear green. The tradition states that “you are invisible to the leprechaun if you wear green.” When the leprechaun sees you and you are not wearing green, you will be pinched!