St. Patrick’s Day Facts for Kids
St. Patrick played an essential role in bringing Christianity to Ireland and is honored on St. Patrick’s Day. Although this holiday may have started as a religious festival, St. Patrick’s Day later evolved into a secular holiday observed worldwide, including by the Irish diaspora in many nations.
Sadly, Saint Patrick passed away on March 17. This day is celebrated in his honor because he is a significant part of Irish ancestry, and the Irish people wanted to recognize and honor him. The celebration is renowned for being an enormous party where it’s normal to see people celebrating all day long.
Let’s take a look at some facts about this special day.
12 Interesting Facts about St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick was abducted and sold as a young child.
Saint Patrick was born in Bannavem Taburniae, England, around 386 AD. His birth name was Maewyn Succat. He was abducted by the Irish at 16 and sold into slavery. He was sent to work as a shepherd in Ireland. He spent six years there and picked up the Irish language. He describes how the Lord had mercy on him and offered him the chance to repent for his sins and become a Christian. Patrick worked as a shepherd while imprisoned and became closer to God through prayer. He eventually fled slavery when he was 22 years old.
God’s voice freed him.
After spending six years in captivity, Patrick overheard a voice informing him that his ship was prepared and that he would soon be returning home. He fled his enslaver and made his way to a port 200 miles away, where he saw a ship and persuaded the captain to take him. They arrived in what they believed to be Britain after three days at sea. They traveled for 28 days in a wilderness before fainting from starvation. They came across a herd of wild pigs after Patrick prayed for food.
He propagated Christianity.
When he was released, he became a priest and helped bring Christianity to the world. He studied under Saint Germanicus, a French Bishop in France, and the monastery of Le’rins off the coast of France. In his 30s, Saint Patrick returned to Ireland to propagate the Christian faith.
This day is celebrated in different ways at schools.
Many St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at school involve exciting, fun activities for kids. Some of the best customs include hunting for leprechauns across campuses, creating traps for leprechauns, performing the famous poem “5 Little Leprechauns” in classes, and eating green snacks all day. While the children are at recess, a teacher dressed as a leprechaun will wreck the classroom.
It is an important Irish holiday.
The Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a yearly feast. Additionally, it is a religious holiday. Many people in Ireland and other nations attend church on St. Patrick’s Day. For St. Patrick’s Day, 41.4 billion pounds of beef are produced annually. Texas is the primary source of beef in the US. For St. Patrick’s Day. It’s also worth noting that 2.5 billion pounds of cabbage are produced in the States for this day. California is where most of the cabbage in the US is grown.
Shamrocks are said to bring luck on St. Patrick’s Day.
A shamrock is a plant with three leaflets on each of its leaves. Because it is thought that St. Patrick used the shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity, the shamrock came to represent St. Patrick’s Day. According to legend, St. Patrick used the clover to symbolize the three distinct components—or leaves—of the same being. God the Father was represented by the first leaf, followed by the Son and the Holy Spirit. According to legend, a four-leaf clover is said to bring luck on St. Patrick’s Day. Each cloverleaf stands for a different idea. The first leaf stands for optimism, the second for conviction, the third for love, and the fourth for good fortune.
The color green is another crucial element of this festival.
We wear green to honor St. Patrick’s Day for this reason as well. Several eateries and Irish pubs will serve green beer on St. Patrick’s Day! However, blue was originally the St. Patrick’s Day color. Green was the color of fairies in Irish mythology. Additionally, it was thought that wearing green would encourage crops to flourish and yield an abundance of food. The hue was altered early in the 19th century from blue to green. A fun fact that might interest you is that green paint is applied to the Chicago River the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. The fountain at the White House in Washington, DC, is occasionally colored green to celebrate this day as well! According to Irish folklore, wearing green on this particular day will make you invisible to leprechauns. Leprechauns can see you if you’re not wearing green; they’ll pinch you if they do! Because of this, when people encounter someone not wearing green, they pinch them as well.
St Patrick’s day is the friendliest day of the year.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, St. Patrick’s Day’s the friendliest day of the year! Several names are given to this festival, such as St. Patrick’s Day. St. Paddy’s Day, St. Patty’s Day, and the Feast of Saint Patrick. In the US, March is Irish Heritage Month!
Leprechauns are another important element of this holiday.
Another representation of St. Patrick’s Day is the leprechaun. They are fabled beings. According to Irish mythology, a leprechaun is a particular kind of fairy. A member of the Tuatha De Danann is a leprechaun. Leprechauns are said to dress in green attire, brown boots, and a top hat. Leprechauns are rumored to spend their entire day manufacturing shoes. They keep their money in a buried treasure chest at the rainbow’s end and are thought to possess unique abilities. If you manage to catch one, they will lead you to their pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and grant you three wishes in exchange for their release. Leprechauns are thought by some to be unfriendly.
St. Patrick is believed to have expelled snakes from Ireland.
Several myths surround St. Patrick. Although there aren’t any snakes in Ireland today, a legend claims that Saint Patrick drove all of the snakes into the Irish Sea during his lifetime. Some argue that the origin of this myth lies in the fact that snake tattoos were common among the pagans and that Saint Patrick expelled the snakes from Ireland by converting them to Christianity.
St. Patrick’s bell is preserved in a museum.
A bell from the time of Saint Patrick’s life is on display in the National Museum of Ireland. Even if there is no proof that Saint Patrick owned the bell, the Irish have held this view for more than 1400 years. At the time, the high monarch of Ireland, one of the Ulster rulers, had a stunning cover constructed out of gold and diamonds to protect the bell. On the cover, the names of the Irish bishops were inscribed. The first typewriters were made using the cover’s lettering style. It is thought that Saint Patrick rang the bell to signal that it was time for worship.
This holiday is celebrated all over the world.
St. Patrick passed away in the fifth century. However, it wasn’t until the 17th century that St. Patrick’s Day gained popularity. St. Patrick’s Feast Day was a national holiday in the seventeenth century. The Catholic Church, Anglican Communion Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheran Church all mark the holiday. There are celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland and worldwide. Argentina, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Montserrat (a Caribbean island), New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Great Britain, South Korea, and the United States.
Conclusion
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide with enthusiasm and joy, and it’s one of the most important celebrations in Ireland. In this article, we walked you through a list of facts about this festival that you might not have known about before! Now that you know when the festival is, we hope that you celebrate it in your own way when the time comes.
Want to know more about other special days celebrated with great enthusiasm? Visit our website.