St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day, also commonly known as Leprechauns Day, is a holiday celebrated every year on March 17. The holiday was established in 1601, to honor Saint Patrick with a day of feast.  

Saint Patrick was a Patron of Ireland, who is also a widely known figure in the religion of Christianity. Although he was a patron of Ireland, Saint Patrick was born in Great Britain.  

For many people, St. Patrick’s Day is just like any other day. But for the Irish, the day is a seen as a religious holiday. Traditionally, Irish families would go to church in the morning and then in the afternoon they celebrate.  

The first St. Patrick’s Day in the United States was celebrated in Florida. In the United States today, there is a parade in New York City dedicated to St. Patrick’s Day. The parade originated in 1762 and is now one of the largest parades in America with there being over 100,00 participants each year. 

Many students at BHS do not recall learning much about St. Patrick’s Day throughout the years, but plenty of students remember learning about Saint Patrick and his impact on Irish culture.  

Freshman Oluwaferanmi Oziegbe had lots to say about the holiday. “From what I remember, he was a big part of religion in Ireland. I also remember when we first learned about pinching people who do not wear green, and that the teachers said if we did, we would be in trouble.”  

As Oziegbe said, a common tradition on St. Patrick’s Day is to wear green, and for those who do not, others are free to pinch them. This started to remind people of leprechauns, who would pinch green abstainers. Leprechauns are a supernatural creature in Irish culture. One tradition that follows leprechauns is making traps. Many children create home-made traps in hopes of catching a leprechaun and gaining access to his gold. Another tradition involving leprechauns also involves rainbows. There is a superstitious belief that at the end of rainbows there is a pot of gold, and if you can get to the end, the gold is yours.  

In Indianapolis, there is a tradition where the canal downtown is dyed green. It is typically dyed green the day before the parade.