The month of leprechauns and green stuff is upon us. Nowadays, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by elementary students making leprechaun traps or adults drinking green beer, but how did these traditions start? 12 centuries before modern traditions started, in 1631, Patron Saint of Ireland died and the church decided to have a feast to honor him. Originally, St. Patrick was a Roman citizen, but he was enslaved and taken to Ireland, where he became a priest and worked to convert the Dulid culture into Christianity. According to old legends, after he became a priest he changed his name to Patricuis, a.k.a Patrick. Patricuis comes from latin words meaning “father figure.” The simple supposed luck of this name is the root of St. Patrick’s Day products and celebrations. During the 18th century is when today’s traditions really started. Because St. Patrick’s Day is during lent, it gave Christians a break from the prescriptions of abstinence leading up to Easter. However, in the 1720s things got a little out of control. The church wanted to remind celebrants that this holiday originally began in the church, being first associated with a botanical item, later being represented by a lucky green shamrock. In 1762, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City. It wasn’t until the Irish Rebellion in 1798 that the color green was associated with the holiday. Until then, the color blue was associated with the holiday because it was in the royal court and in the Irish flag, but because the British wore red, the Irish chose to wear green. Green beer however, was an even later tradition. Up until the 20th century, bars in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day, but because of the marketing push from Budweiser in the 1980s, green beer is now a common tradition associated with St. Patrick’s Day, even if it doesn’t have any actual ties to the origin of the holiday.

Source: https://time.com/4261456/st-patrick-day-2016-history-real-saint/

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day