Today things are looking greener, and not only because spring is on its way, but also because it is Saint Patrick’s Day! So put your green and gold clothes on, get a drink at your favourite Irish pub or join a greenish street celebration and let shamrock and leprechauns bring luck and cash to your day!
Though Saint Patrick is not Irish-born, he is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland, as credited with bringing Christianity to the country. It is believed that he used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans (a leaf for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – united in one). And the shamrock is still the national flower of Ireland – the first time the word shamrock appeared in print goes back to 16th century books on the history of the country.
Related to the national flower, comes a Saint Patrick’s Day tradition. All day a shamrock should be worn on a hat, or in an absence of a hat-on a lapel, and the lucky clover should traditionally end at your last drink for the night. Doing without alcohol which is part of Lent may be forgotten on Saint Patrick’s Day and the “drowning of the shamrock” custom is accompanied by the typical toast: “May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out.” The drowning custom is also believed to relate to the myth of Saint Patrick driving all snakes to the sea to drown (of course there are no snakes in Ireland and the act is a metaphor for ending the pagan tribes’ religious practices of worshipping many different gods and objects and reverting to the Christian monotheism instead).
All things Irish are celebrated on 17 March, as this is the traditional death date of Saint Patrick and every year on this day, in search of luck and prosperity, some look for four-leaf shamrock while others try to catch the elusive Saint Paddy’s Day leprechaun.
The name leprechaun comes from the Irish word luchorpan (little body) and the Irish old mad fairy indeed is only about 2 feet tall. According to legends, the unfriendly leprechauns live alone and pass the time making shoes and protecting their pots of gold, usually to be found at the end of a rainbow.
If you get too carried away by pints of Guinness beer to see a leprechaun but do not manage to steal his treasure, then you have a second option to try – pay for the beer with Patricks. Patricks are milled coins of halfpenny value which were minted in 17th century England, Ireland and Wales and the obverse depicted Saint Patrick.
Ireland is green all year-round, but Saint Patrick’s Day was not always as greenish as we know it today. It was only after green became used as the official colour of Ireland that wearing green on St. Paddy’s Day started been considering as bringing luck on top of paying tribute to Ireland.
Get your green on today and do not miss any chance of having luck on your side!
