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Why do we celebrate by drinking on St. Patrick's Day?

Well, St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints. St Patrick's medals are worn the world over by travelers, engineers and the Irish.

As I've been told, its because the Patron Saint of Ireland, one St. Patrick, a lad taken from his Irish home away to England, raised and trained, and who then returned to his homeland as an adult, converted nearly the entire country, nearly single handedly.

It is said that he drove away all the snakes from the island, when in reality this refers to paganism. By showing people the shamrock, a three-leaved clover, he taught the concept of the Holy Catholic Trinity. He was really quite a guy.

However, modern historians have shown that St Patrick was most probably a blending of two entirely separate individuals. Many of the St Patrick legends were originally related to Palladius, a deacon from Gaul sent to Ireland, most likely by Pope Celestine I (died 431).

Officially, St Patrick is labeled Apostle of Ireland, who was born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387 and died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493.

So, in considering all that holiness, why, do modern celebrators of St Patty's Day drink to such excess on that day? Does it have something to do with how the English, the Catholic priests and the Church treated the Irish over the centuries, since that conversion? And as well, how the Protestant English nationalists treated the poorer Catholic Irish?

Some claim that the Irish just like a reason for a good long celebration after a long and traditionally cold winter. Stereotypically, the Irish are known as hard drinkers and so they, as a people, have in a way, become the patron saints of hard drinkers. Therefore, it follows that everyone that likes to drink, would like to drink on St. Patty's day and that just propagated the whole thing world wide in order to identify with a group of people who love to party.

I live in Seattle and we celebrate St Patty's Day. Due to Seattle's northern state climate, similar to Ireland's, Seattle has received many Irish immigrants, like my own family. In fact, Seattle and Galway are sister cities. So every year on St. Patrick's Day, the Seattle Parade starts at 4th Avenue and Jefferson to the Reviewing Stand at Westlake Park, officially ending at the Seattle Center. The annual Irish Week Festival is grand, including step dancing, food, historical and modern exhibitions, and Irish lessons. All celebrated on St. Patrick's Day, sometimes carrying on through the 15th, 16th, and 17th of March.

It's been claimed that many, after having given up drinking for Lent, which is a liturgical season of forty weekdays, not counting Sundays, going from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and requires fasting and prayer before Easter day, drinking a lot for a whole day, just sounds reasonable to them.

But I stand by my first contention. It's just a way to drown the historical sorrows of having been downtrodden for so long, so that down, just seems like up.

Besides, it makes for a good party.

Slainte'!

Learn more about this author, JZ Murdock.
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