If you’re lucky enough to be Irish… you’re lucky enough. I guess that’s especially true today. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day to celebrate — yep, Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland credited with converting the nation to Christianity. This day, March 17th, is the observation of the death of St. Patrick.
As is tradition here on “What Would Jimmy Do,” I usually talk about St. Patrick because — well, because it’s St. Patricks Day. I also have a beer — sometimes it’s even a Guinness.
We all know that St. Patrick was not Irish, he was English, and his given name was Maewyn Succat. If his name hadn’t been changed, we’s be celebrating Maewyn Day today.
St. Patrick’s Day commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland — in the year 432.
St. Patrick was kidnapped when he was 16 years old by a group of Irish raiders that attacked his family’s estate. He was taken to Ireland by his kidnappers and worked there attending sheep before he escaped and became a priest.
Today, people traditionally wear green and eat corned beef and cabbage… even though corned beef isn’t an Irish dish —it’s English.
Between 1903 and 1970, all/most pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day because it was a religious holiday. After 1970, the holiday was reclassified as a national holiday and the Irish started drinking — on St. Patricks Day. I’m not sure how many pubs will be open in Ireland today… this year a lot of St. Patrick festivities — worldwide — like the parades and dying the Chicago River green have been cancelled because of the coronavirus.
But it’s still St. Patrick’s Day, and we can all still be Irish today. They say that finding a four leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day is especially lucky… we can all use some luck. And maybe we can all become friends — the Irish say a best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.
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