Celebrating Saint Patrick: Ireland’s not-so-Irish Saint

Celebrating Saint Patrick: Ireland’s not-so-Irish Saint

We are in the month of March which means everyone will become Irish soon enough! Saint Patrick’s Day is a fun filled celebration full of green beer, Irish whiskey, corned beef, and green rivers. But has anyone paused between drinks to ask, why do we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day?

Who is Saint Patrick?

Saint Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, but he was not born in Ireland. It is believed that he was born in either Scotland, Britain, or Wales.¹ What we do know, is his father was Roman and his mother was a Briton. His mother is believed to have been the niece of Saint Martin of Tours, a well renowned man in France.² Saint Patrick’s father was a Deacon and his grandfather a priest, but he himself was not a believer of the faith.³ 

At the age of sixteen, Saint Patrick was taken captive by Irish pirates and taken back as a slave to tend the druid herds. During his time as a slave, Patrick welcomed God into his heart and began his conversion through a long period of prayer.⁴ After six years, God answered Patrick’s prayers and he was able to escape and return home.⁵ Patrick ended up becoming a priest and eventually a Bishop. It is also believed that Patrick received a message from God that he was to return to Ireland to preach the Gospel, something the Pope later on instructed him to do. Prior to going to Ireland, Patrick went to France to prepare spiritually to return to the land that persecuted him.⁶ Upon returning to Ireland, he was given the company of guards to protect him. Patrick converted and baptized thousands of people, ordained priests, and established numerous diocese throughout Ireland. During his efforts, Patrick healed the sick and raised the dead, even those who had been dead for a few years.⁷

Within 200 years, Ireland was Christianized making it the only entirely Christian country in Europe at the time as well as the first to ban slavery, tribal warfare, and human sacrifice.⁸Saint Patrick died on March 17, 461 which is now celebrated as his feast day.

Snakes

One of the stories about Saint Patrick is that he cast all the snakes out of Ireland. This story came about because he is often pictured as casting snakes out of Ireland. The image is believed to be a symbolic representation of Saint Patrick converting Ireland to Christianity, thereby casting out the false gods, demons, who are often pictured as snakes, just like in Genesis chapter 3. As a matter of fact, there is evidence supporting the idea that Ireland has never had any snakes

Shamrocks

Shamrocks are also pictured in popular culture on Saint Patrick’s Day as well as in Catholic imagery of Saint Patrick. This is because Saint Patrick used the shamrock to help the people understand the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by using the image the shamrock, with three individual leaves to make it the one plant. Interestingly, the pagan Irish actually held the number three as am important and holy number. They even had a number of triple deities. This belief helped Saint Patrick to convert pagans to the Holy Trinity.⁹

History of the celebration

Saint Patrick’s feast day has always been important in Ireland, so important that it is a holy day of obligation in Ireland. Up until the 1970s, Irish law actually prohibited pubs from opening on March 17^th as a sign of respect for the holiday.¹⁰ Saint Patrick himself was believed to be sober and not a drinker, an irony given the modern festivities.¹¹ Historically, the Irish still celebrated the feast with jubilee, even if sober, particularly since it landed in the middle of Lent, making Saint Patrick’s Day a welcome reprieve from the penitential season.

Drinking is now synonymous with Saint Patrick’s Day. Drinking in Ireland has ancient roots preceding their conversion. Before becoming children of God, the people often drank themselves into drunken stupors to help them sleep due to the fear of monsters, sudden death, and the instability of life. When Patrick brought them the Gospel, they were able to become children of God no longer under the authority of the Fae and the other pagan gods, also freeing them from the vice of alcohol.¹² 

Drinking became a part of the festivities when Irish immigrants brought the celebrations to America. Irish colonists are noted for holding the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Boston in 1737.¹³ These Irish folk were now living in a non-Catholic country with pubs open on Saint Patrick’s Day. With the mostly Protestant population not participating in Lent, and the Irish celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day, it was natural for others to join in on the party. The Irish, with their ancient history of drinking, welcomed the pub into the party and the pub welcomed the party through their doors.

People also often celebrate with corned beef, which is very ironic. The Irish did not traditionally have beef, instead eating bacon or other low-cost meats. The cow was not introduced into Ireland until they were under British rule. This beef was particularly expensive for the impoverished Irish meaning it became a symbol of well-fed British aristocrats and middle class. Corned beef wasn’t invented until the 17^th century and became an Irish export, yet the Irish often couldn’t afford it themselves. When the Irish immigrated to America, they were finally able to buy corned beef. They typically bought it from local Jewish delis. It is believed the Irish lived near the Jews and other immigrants who found themselves unwelcome, thus it was easy for the Irish to buy corned beef from Jewish delis. And that is how corned beef became a popular dish for Saint Patrick’s Day.¹⁴

We can also talk about the famous green river in Chicago. This started in 1962. In 1961, sanitation workers used green vegetable dye to check for dumped sewage, something they realized could be used to dye the river green for Saint Patrick’s Day. It takes 40lbs of dye to give the river its color, which can last from a few hours up to two days.¹⁵

Over time, the celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day has developed into a spectrum of festivities, from a religious holiday to celebrating Irish culture.

How to celebrate as a Catholic

Saint Patrick’s Day is a joyous day for all people. Ironically, Patrick wasn’t Irish and he didn’t drink, yet everyone from Catholics to atheists enjoys the opportunity to be Irish for a day. The Guinness brewery even has an iron beam that says “Everyone is Irish on March 17^th”.

As Catholics, we can partake in this great Catholic feast day, but we must always remember the true meaning of the day: the evangelization of Ireland that spearheaded Christendom in the western world.

This great feast day always lands in Lent, sometimes even on Fridays. It is always best to check with your diocese for a possible dispensation for meat when Saint Patrick’s Day lands on a Friday. Although we often observe a level of fasting and abstinence, it may be an appropriate occasion to relax some of our practices to enjoy celebrating a wonderful evangelist of Christ and his legacy of Christianizing Ireland. However you find yourself celebrating, we will be celebrating his work for the kingdom of God. I pray that you will have a wonderful day celebrating an amazing man of Christ. Glory be to God! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

References

¹ Mercy, Divine. 2024. “St. Patrick – Living Divine Mercy TV Show (EWTN) Ep. 131 with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC.” YouTube. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4si24XYJQ.

² Butler, Fr. Alban. 2012. Lives of the Saints. Gastonia: TAN Books.pg112

³ Mercy, Divine. 2024. “St. Patrick – Living Divine Mercy TV Show (EWTN) Ep. 131 with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC.” YouTube. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4si24XYJQ.

⁴ Butler, Fr. Alban. 2012. Lives of the Saints. Gastonia: TAN Books.pg112

⁵ Mercy, Divine. 2024. “St. Patrick – Living Divine Mercy TV Show (EWTN) Ep. 131 with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC.” YouTube. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4si24XYJQ.

⁶Ibid

⁷Ibid

⁸Ibid

⁹ Mercy, Divine. 2023. “Who Was St. Patrick? – Ask a Marian.” YouTube. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJU90AH3Uv0.

¹⁰ Mulraney, Frances. 2025. “All the pubs in Ireland used to be closed on St. Patrick’s Day.” Irish Central. March 1. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/pubs-ireland-closed-st-patricks-day.

¹¹ Mercy, Divine. 2024. “St. Patrick – Living Divine Mercy TV Show (EWTN) Ep. 131 with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC.” YouTube. Accessed December 31, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4si24XYJQ.

¹²Ibid.

¹³2022. “The history of St Patrick’s Day traditions – and the importance of the colour green.” History Extra. March 11. https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/st-patricks-day-facts-who-irish-patron-saint-ireland-america-first-parade-traditions-green-shamrock/.

¹⁴Ibid

¹⁵Ibid.