The History of Saint Patrick’s Day

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Saint Patrick's Day often strikes me as a strange celebration. It's obviously a traditional Irish event, yet every year it seems as if the whole world wants to get in on the act of celebrating it.

Of course, that probably shouldn't be a surprise as who wouldn't want to embrace the Irish love of the "craic"?

craic
krak Listen
Meanings
noun
  • enjoyable social activity; a good time.
    E.g. he loves the craic, the late nights
crack
krak Listen
Meanings
noun
  • a line on the surface of something along which it has split without breaking apart.
    E.g. a hairline crack down the middle of the glass
  • a sudden sharp or explosive noise.
    E.g. a loud crack of thunder
  • a joke, typically a critical or unkind one.
    E.g. he knew about the gossip and would make the odd crack
  • enjoyable social activity; a good time.
    E.g. he loved the crack, the laughing
  • an attempt to achieve something.
    E.g. I fancy having a crack at winning a fourth title
  • a potent hard crystalline form of cocaine broken into small pieces and inhaled or smoked.
    E.g. he uses crack and cocaine

Craic is the Gaelic form of the English word "crack", though oddly the Irish apparently started using it as a word for describing a fun time after copying the word from the Scottish.

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Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on March 17th. It is observed in the United States and by Irish people around the world. People celebrate by wearing green and other symbols of the Irish culture.

Saint Patrick's Day commemorates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday, but has come to be celebrated as a cultural and national holiday as well.

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century. He became a missionary in Ireland, and he converted most of the Irish to Christianity. Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach about the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Saint Patrick died on March 17th, 461 AD.

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Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash