Irish National Day: St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day

Basic introduction

Irish National Day, St. Patrick's Day (st. patrick's day, March 17), is a national holiday in Ireland. On National Day, every year at this time, Irish people around the world (including 70 million people of Irish descent) will hold grand and grand annual gatherings in various places. Following the parade celebrations started in the United States in 1737, countries around the world such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and even Japan have joined in the celebrations.

Origin

St. Patrick's Day also has some representative symbols, such as: sorrel, shamrocks and the legendary shamrocks, which usually have three heart-shaped leaves connected together. green old dwarves (leprechauns). Saint Patrick used the three heart-shaped leaves of the wood sorrel (shamrock) to explain to the Irish people at that time the important doctrine of the holy trinity - the Father, the Holy Child and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the wood sorrel (shamrock) has become a symbol of Ireland. Nowadays, the discovery of the four-leaf wood sorrel (lucky clover) is a symbol of luck. In addition, the old green dwarves are characters in Irish legends. They are the shoemakers who make fairy shoes. They are about two feet tall and fast-moving elves. They like to play pranks on people, such as tying the laces of people's shoes. Together, they cause people to fall as soon as they stand up; according to legend, these elves hide pots of gold in tree holes. People who want to find gold will follow the sound of the shoemaker elves’ hammers at night, find them and ask them to say The location where the gold was hidden; a man once captured an elf and found the gold in a tree hole. The man first made a mark on the tree with a red handkerchief and prepared to go back and bring tools to dig for gold. Who knew that he would never find the gold again when he came back? When we couldn't find the tree with the gold hidden in it, it turned out that the elf had tied red handkerchiefs on all the trees.

Related customs and activities

In Dublin, the capital of Ireland, as many as 500,000 locals and tourists participated in the festival carnival despite the cold weather. The United States has celebrated this festival for more than 200 years, and many people of Irish descent participated in the parade in costumes that day. In addition, many people around the world celebrate this festival.

Although the weather in Dublin is quite cold in March, people participating in the festival seem not to care and remain enthusiastic. With cheerful music and brightly colored costumes, Dublin is festive, with songs and laughter filling every corner of the city.

In 1737, some Irish gentlemen and businessmen gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, to commemorate St. Patrick and established the Irish Charity Society. In 1780 and 1784, groups such as the Sons of St. Patrick's Friendship were established in Philadelphia and New York. Since then, this holiday has been celebrated every year in the United States.

On St. Patrick’s Day in the United States, people usually hold parades, church services, dinners and other activities. Irish people in the United States like to wear clover, decorate their rooms with green and yellow, the colors of the Irish flag, wear green clothes, and present clover ornaments to guests.

Significance and influence

Although St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional holiday in Ireland, over the past hundreds of years, as Irish descendants have spread throughout Europe and the United States, this holiday has gradually become a holiday in Western countries* **The same holiday.

In New York, USA, a grand parade was held on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, with more than 100,000 participants this year.

In Tokyo, Japan, the 15th Tokyo St. Patrick’s Day Parade also opened grandly. The melodious sound of bagpipes makes Tokyo seem like Ireland.

The parade in Tokyo combines theatrical performances with Japanese and Irish characteristics, including exotic tap dancing and stilt performances full of oriental characteristics.