We dutifully don our green clothes to avoid getting mercilessly pinched, affect an Irish accent, maybe even plan an Irish-themed party complete with blarney stones and shamrocks, all because the date happens to be March 17th and the occasion is St. Patrick’s Day. A holiday known chiefly for its convenient position during Spring Break and its connection to the Irish, alcoholic connotations and all, St. Patrick’s Day also contains a wealth of history and culture.

Saint Patrick was born in a Britain under the control of the Roman Empire, and when he was about sixteen he was taken into slavery by a group of Irish raiders. He remained there for six years until he was able to escape and return to his family. Upon returning, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather and devote his life to the church, becoming a deacon and then later a bishop.

Although it is known that Saint Patrick returned to Ireland to do missionary work, the only knowledge of the location of his work was that it occurred in northern and western Ireland. The date of his life is uncertain. Two letters of his survive, placing his missionary work in the second half of the fifth century, and through textual analysis his death can be placed at the year 493.

Saint Patrick is often credited with banishing snakes from Ireland, although Ireland never actually had snakes to begin with. This could possibly refer to St. Patrick’s work in removing traces of serpentine embellishments used on certain pagan objects. Another legend involving Saint Patrick is that he used the shamrock, a three-leafed clover, to teach the Irish about the Trinity. Many legends involving St. Patrick’s interaction with various beasts and monsters also have circulated. The abundance of legends revolving around Saint Patrick characterize him as someone who had a great influence in his time, which is also evidenced by his status as patron Saint of Ireland since the eighth century.

St. Patrick’s Day is a the national holiday for the Irish people, celebrated as a bank holiday — one for which there is no legal backing — in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. The Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, too, celebrate Saint Patrick day as a public holiday, while the rest of Canada, The United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have not officially declared St. Patrick’s Day as a holiday.

St. Patrick’s day is a feast day, which is a day dedicated to a Roman Catholic Saint, due to the work of Luke Wadding, a 17th century Franciscan friar and historian. It is a holy day of obligation in Northern Ireland, which means that, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, Catholics are required to attend Mass and indulge in relaxation and prayer. The exact date of St. Patrick’s Day is subject to change when it would coincide with Holy Week, which is the last week before Easter. In 2008, celebrations will be held on March 15th, due to this coincidence occurring for the first time since 1940.

The phrase “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” rings true when one looks at the magnitude of non-Irish celebration of the holiday. In several countries, various festivities attract hundreds of thousands of revelers, enjoying Irish food and drink while presumably wearing green, shamrock-laden clothing, but the most recognizable St. Patrick’s Day events are the parades. They range from local productions of a modest collection of floats to huge, dramatic presentations with bands, military groups, police groups, multinational societies, social and cultural clubs, and other floats representing cross sections of all who participate in the festivities.

The parade in Dublin, Ireland, is today watched by over 500,000 spectators and is the capstone of a five-day festival. Music, comedy, street theatre, street performances, dance, and treasure hunts are just part of the festivities in which the parade is nestled, but the lure of watching elaborate floats and well-trained marching bands overwhelms the rest of the event. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade, in terms of spectators, is the parade held in New York City.

Attracting over two million celebrants, the parade marches up 5th Avenue in Manhattan and is traditionally led by the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment. New York politicians, or those running for office, prominently march in the parade, which is run and organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Open only to those of Catholic faith and Irish descent, the order long had the parade as its only purpose. The New York City parade is held on the 17th of March unless it falls on a Sunday, in which case it is pushed back to Saturday the 16th; it does not make exception for the situation in which St. Patrick’s Day falls during Holy Week.

For the Irish, the spreading of St. Patrick’s Day as an international celebration can be seen as a reflection of their own success as a culture and as a people. A St. Patrick’s Day parade occurs in London, a place where the Irish were historically prosecuted. The celebration of the day of their patron St. is a virtual extended hand, a symbol of acceptance and integration. A similar situation occurs in the United States, a country which is not known for its large Irish population, necessarily, but which is not ashamed of its ostentatious and widespread celebration of the holiday.

There, too, was a time when being Irish in America was not particularly easy, especially during the Great Famine between 1846 and 1854 when the sudden surge of Irish immigration to the United States caused tension between the immigrants and the native-born Americans. In fact, on St. Patrick’s Day in the early 1800s, angry native-born Americans would parade through the Irish areas of New York City with “Paddies”, effigies of Saint Patrick meant to mock the holiday and the traditions surrounding it. To have come from such dire times to the current state shows how much Irish culture has found its place in the United States.

St. Patrick’s Day has developed many customs and ideas that people attribute to the holiday without really knowing whether or not they are true. Corned beef and cabbage, the traditional meal for those celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, was not actually a popular meal in Ireland until the 17th century.

Contrary to the popular significance given to the shamrock, no writing about St. Patrick’s life actually mention them. Although alcohol has become an inextricable part of the celebrations, St. Patrick’s Day legislation required that the day be dry in Ireland until the 1970s, meaning that pubs had to remain closed, and the only legal way to obtain alcohol was on a train or at the annual dog show. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was actually held in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737, presumably as part of an English effort to recruit colonists to the army.

The fascination with all things green or Irish is as unmistakable as the fascination that people have with the holiday itself. St. Patrick’s Day is a cherished holiday all around the world, and rightly so. Whether one is religious or not, a holiday based on celebration and togetherness is certainly welcome.