From its origins to the celebrations, here’s all you need to know about Saint Patrick’s Day

People dressed in green, and a flood of photos on social media of beer-chugging enthusiasts — that’s how you’ll know it’s Saint Patrick’s Day on Friday. More than 200 iconic landmarks, including stadiums, statues, castles and towers around the globe turn green, as the world goes all out to celebrate Ireland’s national day, every year. But what is Saint Patrick’s Day and why is it such a big celebration in Ireland?

A Romano-British Christian missionary, “Saint Patrick was largely responsible for converting Ireland to Christianity over a span of 30 years, up to 462 AD. While the precise year of his death is a little unclear, it is believed that he died on March 17,” says Huzan Fraser Motivala, Representative India, Tourism Ireland.

As the story goes, when Saint Patrick was 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he worked as a shepherd for six years. It is believed that God spoke to him and told him to escape to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. He then became a priest and returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. And the rest is history; it didn’t take the Irish long to revere Saint Patrick as the patron saint of Ireland.

Celebrations galore

A traditional day for spiritual renewal, Saint Patrick’s Day is now also synonymous with the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. While the first parade in Ireland was held in Waterford in 1903, Boston in the United States already beat Ireland to it, when they held a parade in 1737, which was followed by an ‘official’ parade in New York in 1766.

“Dublin, on the other hand, joined the club in 1931. Today, the parade in Dublin is a huge, colourful, theatrical event that snakes through the historic city centre, with vivid displays and international bands,” says Motivala. Once confined to a single day, celebrations in Dublin now means four days of music, street theatre, fireworks, pageants, exhibitions and dance that attracts an international audience of over 1 million. Although Saint Patrick’s Day usually falls during Lent, people do not adhere to the Lenten observances—fasting and abstinence — on the day.

Significance of the shamrock

When someone says Ireland, an image of the shamrock (a form of clover) immediately comes to mind... well, apart from Guinness and Bailey’s Irish Cream. According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to help explain the three-in-one principle of the Holy Trinity to the Irish, and so the green shamrock became a symbol of Ireland.

The colour green

Blue was the original colour associated with Saint Patrick, and is the official state colour. The association of blue dates back to the 1780s, when it was adopted as the colour of the Anglo-Irish ‘Order of Saint Patrick’. Wearing green, however, only became a tradition in the 19th century. Green may have been associated with Saint Patrick’s Day since the island of Ireland is known as the ‘Emerald Isle’.

So, as you don your green and get ready to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day,

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

CELEBRATIONS ACROSS THE NATION

Live performance of Irish musician Niamh Ní Charra, green beer and a St Patrick’s themed photo booth. Dress in green and get a beer on the house.
Where: Irish House, Lower Parel
When: March 17, 2017

St Patrick’s Day Carnival by the Irish House
Where: High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel, Mumbai
When: March 18 and 19, 2017

Paint Mumbai green with green beer and shots. Pick between a green Irish shot or a green martini on the house.
Where: Kaitlyn’s Beer Garden, Bandra, Mumbai
When: March 17, 2017

Wear green and get 50% off.
Where: Geoffrey’s, Hotel Royal Orchid, Bengaluru
When: March 17, 2017