Buttered Culture - St Patrick's Day

Buttered Culture: Easily learnt, Easily spread

Hello everybody,

Today I thought was the perfect day to tell you all about St Patrick's Day, this wonderful celebration which originates from... Ireland of course! It's only 4 days away (March 17th), so it's high time you understood what's going on, right folks?

Who is this Patrick?

Patrick was born in Britain in the 4th century. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest, so we can say they kind of paved the way for him to become a Saint... When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and became a slave to Gaelic Ireland.

He spent 6 years there working as a shepherd and apparently "found God". 

Supposedly , God told Patrick to run away in direction of the coast, where a boat would be waiting for him; and as he indeed reach home again, he became a priest. After a few years, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert those barbarian pagan Irish to Christianity. It is said that evangelized "thousands" of people. 

He died on a 17th of March, and many legends were told about him. For example, it is believed that Patrick used a three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans. 

That's how he became Ireland's most famous Saint.

But why do people wear green on Patrick's day? Or the fight between green and blue...

Well, first of all because of this "shamrock" story, the shamrock became a symbol of this celebration, and, well, shamrocks are green. 

Second of all, the color green has been associated with Ireland for a long long time, at least since around 1640. That's when the Catholic Confederation used the green harp flag, so the Friendly brothers of St Patrick (an Irish fraternity from the 1750's) adopted green as their color. 

However in 1783, the Order of St Patrick ( an Anglo-Irish chivalric order) was founded and blue was their color, and therefore became associated with St Patrick. 

But not for long. In 1798, the Irish nationalism movement (the United Irishmen) launched a rebellion against British rule singing "The wearing of the green", which supported the Irish who were persecuted for wearing the color green. 

In the 19th and 20th century, green became associated with Ireland and St Patrick.

What do the Irish do on St Patrick's Day?

Well, as you probably already know, they drink. A lot. So much that for some years, there was a law that said that all the bars and pubs had to be closed on that day! Can you imagine? Fortunately, this law was repealed in the 1970s. 

So, they drink, but also, they celebrate with a parade. The first parade was held in Dublin in 1931 and is still organized today in Ireland, where it lasts 5 days and includes concerts, theater performances fireworks. With this festival the Republic of Ireland wants:

• To offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebrations in the world
• To create energy and excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity
• To provide the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations
• To project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal.

St Patrick's Day is also celebrated in other parts of the world, such as Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, the United States, Australia, etc; where the festivities are mainly organized by people with Irish heritage. 

Well,  I don't know about you, but I certainly wish I was Irish on that day!






Wait, what about the leprechauns?

Leprechauns? You mean those grumpy greedy little trickster fairies?

Alright, alright! Leprechauns are a kind of fairy. But beware, Irish folklore fairies don't look like the cute little fairies of Disney, such as Tinkerbell. They are nasty, capricious creatures who you should not trust. Leprechauns are often described with a red beard, dressed in green and with buckled shoes. Their job is to make shoes. Each leprechaun has a pot of gold which can be found at the end of a rainbow. According to legend, if you find and capture a leprechaun, you can ask for his treasure in return for his freedom. Normally, they can also grant you three wishes. But be careful what you wish for....

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this "Butter Culture" episode. See you next time!