St. Patrick is believed to have driven the snakes from Ireland. Once a
pagan himself, St. Patrick is one of Christianity's most widely known
figures.

The modern secular holiday is based on the original Christian saint's
feast day also thought to be the date of the saint's death. In 1737,
Irish immigrants to the United States began observing the holiday
publicly in Boston and held the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in New
York City in 1766.

Today, the tradition continues with people from all walks and heritages
by wearing green, eating Irish food, and attending parades. St.
Patrick's Day is bursting with folklore; from the shamrock to the
leprechaun and to pinching those that are not wearing green


The First Parade

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and
the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have
observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years.

On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent,
Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and
celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption
of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the
traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the
United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched
through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the
parade helped the soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well
as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Over the next thirty-five years, Irish patriotism among American
immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called "Irish Aid"
societies, like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian
Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which
actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and
drums.

No Irish Need Apply
Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America
were members of the Protestant middle class. When the Great Potato
Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to a million poor, uneducated,
Catholic Irish began to pour into America to escape starvation. Despised
for their religious beliefs and funny accents by the American Protestant
majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs. When
Irish Americans in the country's cities took to the streets on St.
Patrick's Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them in
cartoons as drunk, violent monkeys.

However, the Irish soon began to realize that their great numbers
endowed them with a political power that had yet to be exploited. They
started to organize, and their voting block, known as the "green
machine," became an important swing vote for political hopefuls.
Suddenly, annual St. Patrick's Day parades became a show of strength for
Irish Americans, as well as a must-attend event for a slew of political
candidates. In 1948, President Truman attended New York City 's St.
Patrick's Day parade, a proud moment for the many Irish whose ancestors
had to fight stereotypes and racial prejudice to find acceptance in
America.

Wearing of the Green Goes Global
Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in
the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home
to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in
other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and
Russia.

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a
religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated
that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish
government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an
opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the
world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's
St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring
parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.