Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Life And Society
  4. / Holidays
  5. / St. Patrick's Day
  6. / More St. Patrick's Day

by Sheriff Raff -Answerhag on March 16th, 2007

Sheriff Raff -Answerhag

Question

Help answer this question below.

What is the origin of St. Patrick's Day? Who was he and why is a day of heavy drinking devoted to him?

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. 5 helpful answers below.

  • by unknown on March 16th, 2007

    unknown

    We celebrate him because he was the first person to bring the gospel to Ireland. We do not drink alcohol to do it. We just say Happy St. Patrick's Day.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by DownOnMyLuck on March 16th, 2007

    DownOnMyLuck

    He was a priest who banished the serpents from the Emerald Isle..therefore all the Irish decided in order to celebrate his bravery, they would drink. That's how I see it.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Midgardsormr on February 23rd, 2008

    Midgardsormr

    Wow. Bile and inaccuracies galore!

    Patrick of Ireland was born in Scotland around 390 A.D. He was the son of a Roman official captured by Irish raiders in his adolescence. He became a slave of an Irish chieftain for six years, during which time his faith in God became incredibly fervent. He claims that his prayers shielded him from the elements, so that he could continue praying even in the snow without becoming cold. During his captivity, he learned the Irish Gaelic tongue and became very familiar with the religion of his master, who was a druid.

    According to the Confessio, he was confronted by an angel who told him to flee back to Britain. He spent some time making pilgrimages to various holy sites and eventually became an acolyte of St Germain. He travelled with Germain back to Britain to combat the heresies preached by Pelagius, where he ministered for some time, but he says that he was constantly called back to Ireland by visions.

    Germain commended Patrick to Pope Celestine I and recommended he be sent to Ireland. Celestine agreed and Patrick was ordained as the Apostle of Ireland.

    Patrick landed in Ireland in 433. He immediately sought out his former master with the intention of paying a ransom for his freedom and sharing the Gospel, but instead of facing his former slave, the druid burned down his own hall with himself inside of it.

    Patrick's first great act of defiance against the druids was his lighting of a fire opposite the Paschal fire on Easter in 433. The High King had declared that all fires across the island were to be extinguished while the druids performed their ceremonies, but Patrick set a bonfire on a hill within eyeshot of Tara, in clear defiance of the druids' power.

    The druids and the King attempted to attack Patrick and extinguish his fire, but all of their efforts were thwarted by God. In the morning, Patrick dressed in his full ecclesiastical regalia and parched to Tara, where the druids attempted to stop him but were unable. The high druid, Locha (?) demonstrated his power by flying, but Patrick prayed, and the druid fell from the sky and was killed on the rocks.

    Patrick preached to the assembled chieftains, and the chief bard converted. He used a shamrock to demonstrate the nature of the Trinity (which is why that symbol is associated with him), and eventually persuaded the High King to permit him to preach Christianity across the breadth of Ireland.

    Patrick established churches across Ireland and performed many other works which can be read about elsewhere. He died at March 17, 493, and his feast day is celebrated on the day of his death.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by bandigems on February 23rd, 2008

    bandigems

    In less than a month it will be St. Patricks Day. A day that St.
    Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland. Well, the snakes were he
    Pagans. And they weren't just chased out. They were executed; Men,
    women and children. So, I've started a tradition with my coven and
    other friends.
    On St. Patricks Day , all Pagans should wear something with a snake
    on
    it. A t-shirt, necklace, ring, etc.... This is our way of saying that
    the "snakes" are still here and that we are here to stay.

    The Snake is a symbol of wisdom and free will. Which is why the
    church
    wants to get rid of all Pagans. We believe in free will and
    responsibility for our own actions. So, I am reaching out to all my
    pagan friends to join me in this new tradition and to pass it on to
    all other pagans you know. If we can get at least 1,000 people
    wearing
    a snake this year, it would be a definite great start.

    Please Pass this on. Thank You and Blessed Be. And May the Goddess
    Kiss Your Brow and Bring Light into Your Darkness.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines on March 16th, 2007

    P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines

    He was a Welsh priest who brought Christanity to Ireland. And he did it by first converting the Irish lords and then convencing them that to save Ireland they should let the English send troops to erraticate anyone who would not become Christian. He promised each lord in turn that if they did this he would help to make him the High King over all Ireland. It was the start of one of the most bloody genocides in Irish history and started the fall of the last Celtic stronghold in Europe. He didn't drive out the snakes as myth reports because Ireland is one of the few countries that has no snakes. It was a ephaism for Pagan. One of the first men he had killed was his childhood friend the poet and Druid, Ossinnian, because he wouldn't convert. And for their reward each Irish lord was made to either submit to English rule or watch their families be slaughtered. Mine was one of those families, the O'Dignans, we first submitted and then fled to Spain and later to America after England became Protaestant. And we drink because we're Irish, how else would we celebrate?

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading What is the origin of St. Patrick's Day? Who was he and why is a day of heavy drinking devoted to him?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

ANSWERBAG BUZZ

St patrick s day origins druids
Origin of st patricks day children
St patrick s day christanity today
St patrick s day origin
Saint patrick s day origin snakes druids

Answerbag

a Demand Media company