The weekend before St Patrick’s Day, Dublin hosted the 40th annual St Patrick’s Day Celebration. It was an amazing festival with musical and Irish Dancing performances, a wide variety of food, and carnival games and rides for kids. Irish food was featured, such as fish and chips and corned beef sliders. The festival also featured booths with vendors selling Irish artwork, along with other commercial vendors. On the sides of the festival, trivia posters were posted, quizzing people about Irish and St Patrick’s Day culture and history. 

Originally, St Patrick’s Day was made by the Catholic church, honoring the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick is known for spreading Christianity to Ireland and writing Confessio (a spiritual autobiography) and the Letter to Coroticus, critiquing the British for mistreating Irish Christians. He established churches, schools, and monasteries. It was also believed that Saint Patrick used a shamrock to teach Christianity, the three leaf clover to teach the Holy Trinity. This is where the culture of shamrocks on St Patrick’s Day comes from. Shamrocks are also the national plant of Ireland, changing the color associated with St Patrick’s Day from blue to green. Green is also associated with Ireland’s geography due to its countryside, large landscaped, and rainfall, contributing to a vibrant green landscape. When looking at Saint Patrick, he will often be wearing the color green. 

On March 17, 1601, a Spanish colony in modern-day Florida recorded the first St Patrick’s Day parade. Parades in America began to evolve in cities with a large number of Irish immigrants. Boston hosted their first St Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, and New York City hosted its first parade in 1762. St Patrick’s Day has continued to expand, and in 1962, Chicago started their infamous tradition of dying the Chicago River a vibrant green color. 

Even locally in Dublin, our community celebrates St Patrick’s Day. On Saturday morning, a St. Patrick’s Day parade was hosted from Downtown Dublin to the Dublin Senior Center. Many people watched on the side as featured bands, Irish bagpipes, and dances were presented. The following day, a 5k fun run was hosted and was the largest Fun Run in the city so far. In the festival, the McGrath School of Irish Dance was featured for most of both days, performing Irish tap dancing. Overall, the 40th annual St Patrick’s Day Celebration was an extremely fun and culturally rich event. The performances, food, and heritage showed off Irish culture, creating a greater sense of community in Dublin.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Patrick 

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/celebrations/article/st-patricks-day 

https://time.com/6957676/st-patricks-day-facts-history-true-story/