St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, It's is the anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a holy, religious time with prays, songs and dances.

St. Patrick was a Christian missionary who converted Ireland from paganism. He lived from the late 4th century A.D. to the mid 5th century A.D.

The legend says that St. Patrick miraculously drove snakes from Ireland by banging a drum. The snakes may represent paganism, driven out of Ireland.

To explain the doctrine of the Trinity, St. Patrick compared a shamrock with its three leaves to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost combined to make the holy Trinity.

Ireland's nickname is "The Emerald Isle" because the grass on the hills is so green. Everyone wears in green on St. Patrick's Day to honour The Emerald Isle.

The leprechaun is Ireland's national fairy. Leprechauns are represented as shoemakers and are often drunk. They are guardians of ancient treasures left by the Danes and keep gold coins in pots that they hide at the end of a rainbow.

Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in the United States since the middle of the eighteenth century. Some of the biggest St. Patrick's Day parades are in Chicago, Illinois, New York City, and Savannah, Georgia. The city of Chicago celebrates by colouring the river green!

St. Patrick's Day Quiz

1.  Leprechauns are fairies who look like

  1. old ladies with green hats
  2. good-looking young men

c.  little old men dressed as shoemakers

2.  The legend says that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland

  1. singing songs
  2. praying
  3. with a drum
  1. The shamrock is
  1. a plant
  2. an animal
  3. a stone
  1. The colour of Ireland is
  1. purple
  2. green
  3. orange
  1. The nickname of Ireland is
  1. the Marvelous Isle
  2. the Green Shamrock
  3. the Emerald Isle

6.  In Chicago, on Saint Patrick's Day

a.  They recite the Pledge of Allegiance

  1. They colour the river green

c.  They put pots of gold everywhere

  1. Saint Patrick's Day is on
  1. March 17th
  2. December 26th
  3. July 4th
  1. The rainbow
  1. is bad luck
  2. is good luck
  3. makes you eloquent
  1. Leprechauns keep
  1. gold shoes
  2. pots of gold
  3. gold rings

Saint Patrick's Day Symbols

Shamrock

Leprechaun

Rainbow

Celtic cross

Celtic harp

Kissing the Blarney stone

Saint Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland

Pot of gold