St Patrick’s Day

Green Rivers.
Who makes rivers run green, and why? And why on 17th March?

This is part of the Irish American way of celebrating the special day of St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. He died on 17 March 460.

The date of 17 March has always been a recognised religious festival in Ireland.
Families attended church in the morning and celebrated for the rest of the day.

The awkward fact that this day was in Lent was glossed over.
For this occasion even the eating of meat was acceptable.

American Irish were the first to hold a special St Patrick’s Day parade in New York.
In 1762 the British army agreed to the parade by their many Irish soldiers.

Celtic music features pipes and drums, bagpipes, whistles and a particular drum called a framedrum. This has a distinctive sound normally only played during battle.
The unique sounds of those marching bands would have attracted anyone with a Celtic therefore Irish lineage.
The occasion certainly helped Irish people connect with each other.

The resulting upsurge of Irish patriotism quickly spread throughout the Colonies. Independent societies sprang up with names such as ‘The Friendly Sons of St Patrick’, and ‘The Hibernian Society’. These held their own parades.

By 1848 they combined to form a single New York City St Patrick Day parade.
Today this is the oldest civilian parade in the world and claims over 150,000 participants.
Three million people line the mile and a half route.
The parade takes over five hours to pass by.
Other American centres with significant Irish population such as Boston, Chicago, Savannah and Philadelphia hold their own smaller versions.

Until the 1850’s most Irish in America were descended from the original Protestant Irish, who came from established middle classes.
The horrendous 1845 Potato Famine in Ireland stimulated a wave of a million immigrants to America from the south of Ireland. These were mainly Catholic and poor.

These incomers had trouble establishing themselves in American society until they realised how their large numbers gave them huge collective political power.
The resulting voting block became known as ‘The Green Machine’.
It soon interested political hopefuls, especially in marginal seats.

This idea of ‘everything Irish is green’ became a powerful symbolic link.

Clothes, faces, hair, cars, beer, cakes and everything else that could be, was dyed or coloured green, if only for this special day.

At the time Chicago was having pollution problems from illegal sewage discharges. Officials used a vegetable dye to help trace illegal sources.

It was a short step to putting green dye in the river on St Patrick’s Day.
Since that took over a week to clear, it is modern practice to put sufficient for a few hours. Citizens of Savannah claim this was their idea, although they cannot prove it.

The Day has become an important event in most cities with a substantial Irish population all over the world.
The ‘wearing of the green’, Irish food and drink, music, fireworks and outdoor theatre makes a statement about Irish lineage and togetherness.

A traditional Irish meal for the day is cabbage and bacon, with soda bread.
Corned beef instead of bacon is more popular these days.
Originally this may have been absorbed from the local poor New York Jews, although corned beef is a popular dish around the area of Cork in Southern Ireland.
In traditional soda bread, leavening yeast is replaced with baking soda.

Over 30 million Americans claim Irish ancestry. This is nine times today’s population of Ireland, and second only to German ancestry claimants.

Who was St Patrick?
As you would expect from this distance in time, there are many opinions and not many verifiable facts. Those were the days when information was passed on by word of mouth. Written material was in Latin. Not many people could read. Any writing was mainly to do with religion or administration matters of the Roman Empire.

Suggestions for Patrick’s birthplace include somewhere around the Severn estuary, Dunbarton on the Clyde and near Boulogne in France.
The most likely connection is with the old kingdom of Dyfed in the South West corner of Wales. The area suffered frequent marauding raids from across the Irish sea.

The birth of a son around 390 ad, to an obscure middle ranking Roman official in Wales was not exactly of earth shattering importance. Nobody noticed.
It seems the head of family, Calpurnius, was quite well off financially, owning at least one substantial house. He seems to have been some sort of community official such as agent or deacon, following in his father’s steps.
Probably his son Patrick enjoyed an above average standard of living and an upbringing normal for his class in those days. He wrote later he had no interest in religion.

At the age of 16 Patrick was kidnapped by Irish based marauders. He was sold as a slave to an Irish chieftain/ landowner, Milchu, who set the boy to work looking after his sheep. Some say on the Slemish Mountain in County Antrim, others Fochlad in County Mayo.

In one of only two documents he wrote later in life, ‘Confession,’ he gave a few sparse details of his early years. He described how he spent most of his time on his own, living rough on the mountain with the sheep. He felt lonely and frightened.

He ‘found’ religion. He describes how he prayed one hundred times every day and every night.
One night six years later he was stimulated by a dream or vision to leave Ireland and return home.

His journey home has many mysteries. He gives some details in ‘Confession.’
They are difficult to reconcile with geography.

The vision told him to go to a harbour where he would find a ship to take him across the sea to home. The nearest harbour from Mayo was 200 miles away. A long dangerous walk for an escaped slave. Anyone capturing him would be well rewarded. Escaped slaves were not popular with other landowners.
There are suspicions that the ship’s crew took him on board with a ransom or reward on their minds.

His account in ‘Confession’ says that, after three days at sea, they reached land. They travelled for a month through uninhabited country. Where could this have been?
It is unlikely to be England or Wales, but France is possible.

The crew became very hungry. Their leader goaded Patrick to ask his God for food.
Patrick said a prayer. A herd of pigs appeared which the crew killed and ate.
Patrick’s reputation must have been greatly improved.
Presumably they dropped ideas of selling him for ransom, since they released him.

At some stage he returned to his family in Wales who welcomed him enthusiastically. But he announced he must return to Ireland take up evangelical work.

He made preparations with considerable care. His following years were spent in formal religious education in France. After fifteen years he was ordained at Auxerre, and studied for three years at Lerins near Cannes.
It seems after consecration in 432, he departed immediately for pagan Ireland.

Here he soon came into direct conflict with the Druids. These men were the religious leaders of all Celtic societies. They were prophets and philosophers not merely priests.
They felt threatened by Patrick and his evangelism.

Patrick had made an early target of the pagan King of Laeghaire. A meeting was held at Tara in Ulster. It seems Patrick convinced the King into tolerating his preaching.
It is said he even impressed the Druids.
The King did not convert but allowed his daughters to do so.
His brother gave Patrick a barn to use as a religious centre.

In spite of strenuous opposition from the Druids which included frequent capture and imprisonment, Patrick began to make progress with other chieftains as he slowly expanded his evangelical efforts throughout Ireland.

Around 439, three Bishops were sent from France to help him. Patrick had set up a travelling mission caravan. Wherever this stopped, the site was often chosen to build a chapel or church as an outpost of Christianity for the future. Monasteries were founded in Leinster and Munster.

Around 442, Pope Leo sent for Patrick.
Since Patrick seemed to be making good progress, he wished to make a formal organisation of this new Church in Ireland.
In particular Latin would be the language used and Armagh church would become the primal see of Ireland.
Patrick was given various relics to take back.

Patrick was now very ill. He had lived a very rough uncomfortable unhealthy life for many years.
He died shortly after his return to Ireland.

Details of his death are understandably variable according to what you read.
It seems he most likely died at Saul, Downpatrick on 17 March 460.
One of many other claims is he died at Glastonbury. There is a chapel of St Patrick at Glastonbury Abbey.

Looking Back
It is probably fair comment to say he preached better than he wrote. He was obviously a powerful speaker. The Irish are justly renowned for telling stories. They would have enjoyed good oratory.
Today it would help the rest of us if he had put more in writing.

He only left us two written works. ‘Confession’ an autobiographical explanation and ‘Epistola’ a tirade against how the English treated the early Irish Christians.

Shamrock
Patrick used the three leaved shamrock to symbolise the Trinity.
It was always a sacred plant in Celtic culture, marking springtime.

Irish cultural awareness strengthened as English oppression developed.
The English had seized Irish lands, forbade the Irish to speak their language and, in Queen Elizabeth’s anti-catholic drive, forbade them to practice their religion.

Displaying or wearing a shamrock demonstrated strong silent defiant contempt by the Irish for their English overlords.
Anti-English patriotism and emerging Irish nationalism became powerful allies.

Snakes
One myth easily dismantled is St Patrick abolished all the snakes in Ireland. The real reason is the Ice Age had separated the land masses of Ireland from Europe when snakes were expanding their territories. There never were any snakes in Ireland.

The Sun
Considering how Patrick was battling for Christianity in a hostile world of pagans it makes practical sense to combine relevant symbols.
He superimposed the Sun onto the cross to make what we now call a Celtic Cross.
Easily recognised and accepted whatever your religion.

Password Postscript
When the British evacuated Boston in 1776 the password was Saint Patrick.

DOUG R. (England)

Recent articles of Doug R.:

• ~Woman’s Day - 8th March

• ~Valentine's Day

• ~Your Free NHS

• ~Why Look East?

• ~Why we are like this?

• ~Cross Border Families

Published in Woman's Magazine Russian Woman Journal  www.russianwomanjournal.com - 16 March 2009