https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 03 May 2026 13:59:48 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2112123 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 17:21:48 +0000 jedeve 2112123@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I grew up Irish Catholic so this idea is just foreign to me. When people say they don't know why we celebrate it, do youesf you don't know the history of the saint, or why it's a thing in the US, or something else? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2112119 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 17:13:19 +0000 Mrs.Pinecone316 2112119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No idea either! Only time I ever "celebrated" it was in college for obvious reasons. But it was never a big thing growing up or anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2112115 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 17:09:56 +0000 Cherrybee 2112115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't celebrate it because we are not Irish. :silly:</p> <p>To add: The patron saint of England is St George. We celebrate his feast in April. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111636 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:33:32 +0000 rachiecakes 2111636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Because I live in Boston and it's mandatory. :silly: </p> <p>Most of my friends and neighbors are second generation Irish. We celebrate their heritage. :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111595 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:13:13 +0000 littlejoy 2111595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm Irish, and so is my husband. We just talked about it, and neither of our families ever taught us the true reason for the holiday. -- We've since learned about it.</p> <p>For us, we just love a day to wear green, to celebrate being Irish (for whatever reasons), eat roasted potatoes and cabbage, and drink Irish beer. It's also my half birthday, so I approve. ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111482 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:33:25 +0000 catlady 2111482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm pretty sure most people around here celebrate in order to have an excuse to drink green beer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111468 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:26:20 +0000 jedeve 2111468@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Catholic saints have "feast days," where you remember the saint/celebrate their life, etc. Sometimes people celebrate the feast day of the saint they were named after. Different feast days are popular in regions where that saint has significance - St. Lucia Day in Scandinavia, for example. </p> <p>St. Patrick was a Christian missionary to Ireland. His best known teaching is that the trinity (God as Father, son, and Holy Spirit) is like the clover with three leaves but one plant. He is also well known for his "breastplate prayer." This is my favorite part of it:</p> <p>"I arise today, through<br /> The strength of heaven,<br /> The light of the sun,<br /> The radiance of the moon,<br /> The splendor of fire,<br /> The speed of lightning,<br /> The swiftness of wind,<br /> The depth of the sea,<br /> The stability of the earth,<br /> The firmness of rock."</p> <p>When the Irish emigrated, the holiday became a market of ethnic identity. Fun fact - the second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration is in Butte, Montana. </p> <p>Of course now people celebrate with drinking and dyeing food green (wtf Pinterest), things which don't have much to do with the saint or Irish heritage! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111292 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 09:07:42 +0000 Mae 2111292@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: well that makes the story less impressive... lol</p> <p>@honeybear: i knew there were not indigenous snakes... but i always thought that the st pats story was the christian explanation for the scientific fact. But then again I was legit in my 20s before I realized that men and women have the same number of ribs. I always thought men had one less! lol. I had always assumed the story of adam and eve was the christian explanation for why men had one less rib. Soooo yea. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111284 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 09:01:29 +0000 MrsKoala 2111284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Basically, it started in the US with the Irish immigrants celebrating it as a way to reconnect with their heritage. It was originally a Catholic holiday, St. Patrick's feast day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111244 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:41:01 +0000 looch 2111244@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I thought the snakes were a figurative thing, Patrick brought Christianity to the Irish.</p> <p>snakes=pagans </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111243 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:40:56 +0000 honeybear 2111243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>St. Patrick is a patron saint of Ireland. He wasn't Irish! :) He was sent there as a slave initially, and then he went back as a Christian missionary. @Mae: I'm fairly certain I read that there were not any indigenous snakes in Ireland. I think the story about driving the serpents out is a metaphor. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111217 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:30:36 +0000 Mae 2111217@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I thought it had something to do with at Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland..? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111216 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:30:26 +0000 LuLu Mom 2111216@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We celebrate in my family for my grandma's birthday, but in general as a holiday I have no idea! ha </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111214 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:29:27 +0000 BKCaribBaby 2111214@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't celeberate it, but my understanding is that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. Given that there was a large Irish immgrant population throughout American history, I believe that it caught on with the general public. Just my guess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111158 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 07:55:53 +0000 blackbird 2111158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, in college, St Pats is the patron saint of engineering. That was enough for us :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-know-why-we-celebrate-st-patricks-day#post-2111120 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 07:25:55 +0000 Mamaof2 2111120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 6yr old asked me this morning and I realized I have no idea!</p> <p>Do you? </p>