March 17th marks St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. Many also call it Paddy’s Day, ‘Paddy’ being the diminutive of the name Patrick, or rather its Irish version ‘Pádraig’. But what is the history of this world-famous holiday – and what made it world-famous in the first place?

A bit of history

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He is said to have died around the 5th century – long before the holiday was first observed. But why him of all the many saints the Irish recognize? The man, who was later sainted, was born in Roman Britain. He was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at 16. He later escaped but returned to Ireland as a monk and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. He took the name Patricius (Latin for father figure) and became a wandering preacher. He had great success converting Irish natives to Christianity. One of the best-known legends of St. Patrick is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of the native Irish clover, the shamrock, and how the three became one in the stem. By the way: He is also why we believe a four-leaved clover brings luck. He told his congregations that if you were to find one, you could believe yourself to be the second coming of Christ. A bit over the top, but there you go.

Saint or no saint?

Another is the claim that he expelled the snakes from Ireland. In truth, there were no snakes in Ireland for him to banish in the first place – but legend has it that he stood on an Irish hillside and in a sermon, forced all serpents to slither away into the sea. Obviously, it was meant as a metaphor, as snakes – when taken as a Biblical reference – represent evil, and thus he banished all evil from the land. And while we are talking about things that don’t exist: Patrick was never formally canonized by the Catholic Church, as he lived before the church laws were established for such matters. Nevertheless, the Irish will not love him any less. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on his supposed death day. As the day falls squarely into the middle of Catholic Lent, and since the Irish will never forego a good reason to celebrate, it became a welcome break from austerity, a day of laughter, singing, dancing, and – of course – drinking.

The great exodus

But how is it that wherever you go in the world, March 17th is earmarked for St. Patrick’s Day? After all, Ireland is a relatively small country… Fact is that you won’t find many countries in the world without an established Irish community. During the Great Famine (1845 to 1852), many Irish left their homeland to find more hospitable places to live. Nearly two million people emigrated from Ireland to America and Australia, and another 750,000 to Britain. Many ventured to Africa and the Far East. As the Irish are hard-working people and staunch Catholics, they thrived and multiplied wherever they settled. Quite naturally, they took their culture and traditions with them. And among them – of course – St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish around the world

With arguably the largest population of Irish in the world, America and specifically New York have become famous for their enormous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. In fact, New York hosts the largest parade anywhere in the world. 2025 will be the 264th parade in the city, where proud Irish will be celebrating their heritage in style. Similarly, Australia has become another stronghold of Irish culture and traditions. The country, which had its beginnings as a penal colony for the British Empire, received large numbers of Irish – initially as convicts, and later as prospective wives and house servants. St Patrick’s Day has always been an important day for the Irish in Australia. While in the late 18th century, this meant rowdy festivities among the Irish convicts, the festivities gained respectability in the 19th century, marked by formal dinners attended by the British colonial elite, most of whom had no Irish connections whatsoever –  but it was the fashionable thing to do.

Modern times

Today, St Patrick’s Day in Australia has become the same kind of fun day as everywhere else in the world, marked by revelry, green beer, and comical hats. On that day, some say that there are only two kinds of people — those who are Irish, and those who wish they were. The Irish themselves – well, they celebrate their Irishness all year round, with Paddy’s Day simply being the crescendo of it all. Well-loved by virtually every nation, the Irish and their culture have been embraced everywhere over time. Their mostly heavily accented English and their famous twinkle in the eye make them the darlings of the world.

Bottom line

St. Patrick’s Day is a major marketing occasion in March, and the scampering leprechauns, three-leaved clovers, silly green top hats and of course, green beers and shamrocks in the foam of a pint of Guinness are iconic representations in online and offline marketing. If you want to use this great opportunity to do some relevant advertising in foreign markets, you need the right partners with the right shop solutions and linguists, so that you can follow your own little leprechaun to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow 😉

☘️ Happy Paddy’s Day! ☘️

 



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autor_eurotext_100Author: Eurotext Editorial Team

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