As we once again wear green on Monday out of fear of being pinched, and as many head to their local pubs to celebrate, it doesn’t hurt to ask, why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
St. Patrick’s Day commemorates the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who lived in the fourth century. St. Patrick helped convert the Irish to Christianity, and in his honor the Irish would celebrate his life with feasts and services.
So how does a day honoring a century old Saint from Ireland grow in popularity in the United States? Immigration.
Bryan McGovern, a professor of history at Kennesaw State University, shared with WWL News Radio that the popularity of St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. can be traced back to the 18th century.
“A lot of it stems back to the 1700s. The first Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade would have been 1737 in Boston,” McGovern shared. “This would have been a celebration of people who were trying to assert an identity, but also trying to make their way in a new place.”
He added that those who celebrated were a part of the British Empire in the American Colonies, so they were trying to find their own culture.
Fast forward three decades to the 1760s, and McGovern says that St. Patrick’s Day parades start to occur “on an annual basis” and stretch to New York.
So, where do other modern staples come from?
McGovern shared that the holiday’s tie to Catholicism is new as the immigrants who brought the holiday to the U.S. were mostly protestant.
“We really don’t see Irish Catholics outnumbering Irish Protestants coming to the United States until the 1830s,” he said, adding that with the Irish Great Famine, “we really started to see the influx of Irish Catholics.”
What about the color green? McGovern shared that, surprisingly, the color that used to be associated with St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland was actually blue.
“There’s some mythology about Ireland being represented, Irish sovereignty being represented by the color blue,” McGovern said.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that green became more prominent for Irish nationalism, after first being introduced in the 17th century by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Since then, the color has stuck and become a staple of not only the holiday but also the nation.