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| "Snakes...why did it have to be snakes?" Though legend tells of St. Patrick driving serpents out of Ireland, he聽likely never encountered one of the legless beasts聽on the Emerald Isle. |
Saint Valentine鈥檚 Day once marked martyrdom, but I celebrated with Batman valentines. And maybe Easter rabbits really did come from ancient pagan customs, but I don鈥檛 think the Romans had Cadbury Cr猫me eggs. All Hallows Eve now means candy, candy, candy. And as for eggnog, trick-or-treating and Mardi Gras (read: pancake Tuesday) 鈥� let鈥檚 not go there. Whatever ecclesiastical significance holidays once held, the twentieth century has an inarguable gift for getting down to something everything can agree on: fun and food. Now March 17 has arrived again, and St. Patrick鈥檚 Day once more gives study-weary students new excuses to make merry. It鈥檚 comforting to know that, in this case, that was always kind of the point.
鈥�(St. Patrick鈥檚 Day) was associated with un-Lent-like behaviour,鈥� says Cynthia Neville of the Department of History. Dr. Neville currently teaches the course 鈥淐eltic Britain and Ireland to 1200.鈥� Medieval Europe is her speciality. 鈥淚rrespective of where Easter fell鈥� (St. Patrick鈥檚) always fell somewhere in Lent.鈥� Partly, this was coincidence. St. Patrick鈥檚 Day, like most saint days, is celebrated not upon St. Patrick鈥檚 birth, but his death 鈥� after which Christian tradition says St. Patrick attained a better life in heaven. St. Patrick鈥檚 death in March set his feast day square in the middle of the holy Lenten fast, to the delight of parishioners. St. Patrick was so popular, with the common people and church authorities alike, that the powers that be would briefly lift the Lenten ban on meat, beer, and merrymaking.
鈥淚n Ireland, St. Patrick鈥檚 Day has always been the most important,鈥� affirms Dr. Neville. 鈥淗e was the most beloved Saint.鈥� That love of St. Patrick鈥檚 goes way back: Dr. Neville suggests the holiday has been celebrated in excess of a thousand years. (Presumably, it was pretty consistently celebrated with excess, too.)
So who was St. Patrick? Besides the timing, why the consistent adulation when so many other 鈥淪aint鈥檚 Days鈥� have fallen out of the general consciousness? (For instance, Wikipedia tells me that March 18 is the feast day of Saint Cyril. Maybe you knew this, but I didn鈥檛.) Dr. Neville says St. Patrick is one of three Irish patron saints -- the others are Brigid and Columba. Patrick鈥檚 legacy is mired in mythology, but some facts can still be gleaned. 鈥淲e think he was active in Ireland as a missionary in the second half of the fifth century,鈥� says Dr. Neville.
Perhaps St. Patrick is more well-known due to his dramatic story. Born somewhere in the British Isles, St. Patrick was sixteen years old when he was kidnapped by Irish pirates, and he was held as a slave for six years before his escape. Eventually, Patrick returned to the Emerald Isle by his own volition 鈥� this time, to teach the Gospel. The rest is history.
Sources suggest St. Patrick really existed. But did he drive the snakes out of Ireland? That鈥檚 another story. 鈥淣one of the legends are factually true,鈥� says Dr. Neville, but she allows that 鈥渓egends are a good thing. They survive for a reason.鈥� There were no snakes on Ireland in Patrick鈥檚 time, just like today. However, Dr. Neville reads the legend as, 鈥渁 Christianized version of Patrick driving the Druids out of Ireland.鈥� Druids were associated with dragons, Dr. Neville explains: it鈥檚 not a far leap from dragons to snakes. 鈥淭he Druids were the most important ecclesiastical group in Ireland at the time鈥� they were not associated with all the human sacrifice nonsense you hear about them, but they were pagan.鈥�
Another legend relates that St. Patrick explained the Christian Trinity through a shamrock鈥檚 trefoil leaves. That, Dr. Neville allows, is not quite so outlandish. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way to prove or disprove that,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t makes sense to me.鈥�
Whether it鈥檚 fact, legend, or somewhere in between, St. Patrick鈥檚 has an impressive pedigree. So does eating and drinking in honour of the holiday -- although, presumably, the beer has gotten somewhat greener. But the parades and shamrock hats 鈥� those are quite firmly our fault. 鈥淭he whole hoo-ha about St. Patrick鈥檚 Day celebrations began in North America,鈥� says Dr. Neville. For a long time, St. Patrick鈥檚 Day was simply a Christian feast day: leprechauns not included. Then in the 1760s, group of Irish soldiers stationed in New York were given permission to celebrate St. Patrick鈥檚 with a parade, and for better or for worse, a new ritual was born. St. Patrick鈥檚 Day hasn鈥檛 been the same since.
When I was little, my mom cut my toast into shamrocks in honour of St. Patrick鈥檚 Day. As an English undergrad, I mark the occasion somewhat differently. How will you celebrate this ancient Irish feast 鈥� eating, drinking, or just a loud green cardigan? Don鈥檛 feel guilty about indulging. St. Patrick鈥檚 isn鈥檛 just a celebration, after all 鈥� it鈥檚 history.