Hughes’ church is meeting the masses in the middle, handing out shamrock cookies on Main Street to mark St. Patrick’s Day. “In Montreal particularly, St. Patrick’s Day and the parade has really become not an essence of Irish community, but rather a commercialization [that is also] associated with the coming of spring”, Kenneally said. Patron saints are chosen to protect the interests of a country, place, group, trade or profession, or activity, and to intercede for them in heaven. Can’t attend? You can get some friends and family members together and have your own sober St Patrick’s celebration instead.
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Kilroy said that Celtic Irish people brought St. Patrick, who was actually a slave, to Ireland from Roman Britain in the fifth century.
Since then, the unique traditions of St. Patrick’s Day have drawn in the Irish and the Irish-at-heart. It wasn’t until about 16 years later that he went to Ireland, but not by choice. He escaped six years later and became a priest. A few years after returning to his homeland, he had a divine vision in which he felt God call him to be the “Voice of Ireland”.
The shamrock is associated with St. Patrick, as he reportedly used the three-leafed plant as a way of explaining the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Spoiler: There were never any snakes in Ireland. A popular tradition in the U.S.is to wear green on March 17, and to pinch anyone who dares step outside without wearing the color. It took an act of legislation to turn St. Patrick’s Day into a “drinking” national holiday. It has primarily been celebrated as a religious holiday. NY and Dublin hold the biggest parades in the world. There are more than 80 million people worldwide who claim ancestral connection to the “ould sod”. This number is more than seven times the population of Ireland (4.6 million). It will feature lots of Irish dancing and both Irish and Romanian music, including pipers from Ireland and Hungary, among other acts.
The programme will be broadcast live by Irish TV from 3-7pm (GMT) on March 17 on Sky 191, Freesat 400, eVision 191, all free-to-air boxes and online at www.irishtv.com.
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As a result, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he will end his two-year boycott of the parade and will march not once, but twice at this year’s event.
