Editing Saint Patrick's Day (section)

==Celebration and traditions==
[[File:Traditional-irish-stipatricksidayibadges.jpg|thumb|Traditional Saint Patrick's Day badges from the early 20th century, [[Museum of Country Life]] in [[County Mayo]]]]
[[File:Irish clover.jpg|thumb|upright|According to legend, Saint Patrick used the three-leaved [[shamrock]] to explain the [[Holy Trinity]] to [[Ancient Celtic religion|Irish pagans]].]]
[[File:Sydney Opera House on St. Patrick's Day (41260243671).jpg|thumb|Sydney Opera House lit up green in honour of Saint Patrick in [[Sydney]], Australia]]

Present day Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have been greatly influenced by those that developed among the Irish diaspora, especially in North America. Until the late 20th century, Saint Patrick's Day was often a bigger celebration among the diaspora than it was in Ireland.{{sfnp|Cronin|Adair|2002 |p=242|ps=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5TYHqrao2PwC&pg=SL26-PA42]}}

Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, Irish traditional music sessions ([[céilidh|céilithe]]), and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks.<ref name="Irish Culture 2"/> There are also formal gatherings such as banquets and dances, although these were more common in the past. Saint Patrick's Day parades began in North America in the 18th century but did not spread to Ireland until the 20th century.{{sfnp|Cronin|Adair|2002 |p=xxiii}} The participants generally include marching bands, the military, fire brigades, cultural organisations, charitable organisations, [[voluntary association]]s, [[Youth organization|youth groups]], [[Fraternity|fraternities]], and so on. However, over time, many of the parades have become more akin to a [[carnival]]. More effort is made to use the [[Irish language]], especially in Ireland, where 1 March to St Patrick's Day on 17 March is Seachtain na Gaeilge ("[[Seachtain na Gaeilge|Irish language week]]").<ref>{{Cite web|title=Seachtain na Gaeilge – 1 – 17 MARCH 2021|url=https://snag.ie/|access-date=17 March 2021|language=Irish|archive-date=10 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310110330/https://snag.ie/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2010, famous landmarks have been lit up in green on Saint Patrick's Day as part of [[Tourism Ireland]]'s "Global Greening Initiative" or "Going Green for St Patrick's Day".<ref>St Patrick's Day: Globe Goes Green. (17 March 2018). [[BBC News]]. Retrieved 8 January 2019.</ref><ref>The World Goes Green for St Patrick's Day. (16 March 2018) [[RTE News]]. Retrieved 8 January 2019</ref> The [[Sydney Opera House]] and the [[Sky Tower (Auckland)|Sky Tower]] in [[Auckland]] were the first landmarks to participate and since then over 300 landmarks in fifty countries across the globe have gone green for Saint Patrick's Day.<ref>Global Greening Campaign 2018. (2018) [[Tourism Ireland]]. Retrieved 8 January 2019</ref><ref>Ó Conghaile, Pól. (16 March 2018). Green Lights: See the Landmarks Going Green for St Patrick's Day!. [[Independent.ie]] Retrieved 8 January 2019</ref>

Christians may also attend [[church service]]s,<ref name="Irish Culture 1" /><ref name="Irish Culture 5"/> and the [[Lenten]] restrictions [[Christian fasting|on eating]] and [[Christianity and alcohol|drinking alcohol]] are lifted for the day. Perhaps because of this, drinking alcohol – particularly Irish whiskey, beer, or cider – has become an integral part of the celebrations.<ref name="Irish Culture 1" /><ref name="Irish Culture 2" /><ref name="Irish Culture 3" /><ref name="Irish Culture 4"/> In Ireland, this relaxation of fasting rules is notably marked by the consumption of stout, a dark ale beer that is a key part of the celebration, with breweries preparing months in advance for the demand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How is St. Patrick's Day Celebrated in Ireland in 2024? |url=https://www.travellertoday.com/best-places-celebrate-st-patricks-day/ |author=Lucy Price |date=18 January 2024 |access-date=19 January 2024 |website=www.travellertoday.com |language=en}}</ref> The Saint Patrick's Day custom of "drowning the shamrock" or "wetting the shamrock" was historically popular. At the end of the celebrations, especially in Ireland, a shamrock is put into the bottom of a cup, which is then filled with whiskey, beer, or cider. It is then drunk as a [[Toast (honor)|toast]] to Saint Patrick, Ireland, or those present. The shamrock would either be swallowed with the drink or taken out and tossed over the shoulder for good luck.{{Sfnp|Cronin|Adair|2002 |p=26}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Santino|first=Jack|title=All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life |year=1995|publisher=University of Illinois Press|page=82}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Donal |last=Hickey |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/donal-hickey/the-facts-about-shamrock-262195.html |title=The facts about shamrock |work=[[Irish Examiner]] |date=17 March 2014 |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312072313/http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/donal-hickey/the-facts-about-shamrock-262195.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Irish Government ministers travel abroad on official visits to various countries around Saint Patrick's Day to promote Ireland.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/03/09/how-st-patricks-day-celebrations-went-global How St Patrick's Day Celebrations Went Global] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109011907/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/03/09/how-st-patricks-day-celebrations-went-global |date=9 January 2019 }} (9 March 2018) [[The Economist]] Retrieved 8 January 2019</ref><ref>Doyle, Kevin. (16 January 2018). [https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/st-patricks-day-exodus-to-see-ministers-travel-to-35-countries-36495240.html St Patrick's Day Exodus to See Ministers Travel to 35 Countries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108202901/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/st-patricks-day-exodus-to-see-ministers-travel-to-35-countries-36495240.html |date=8 January 2019 }}. [[Irish Independent]]. Retrieved 8 January 2019</ref>

===Wearing green and shamrocks===
[[File:"The Wearing of the Green.".jpg|thumb|upright|A Saint Patrick's Day greeting card from 1907]]
On Saint Patrick's Day, it is customary to wear [[shamrock]]s, green clothing or green accessories. Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the [[Holy Trinity]] to the [[Celtic polytheism|pagan Irish]].<ref name="natgeo">{{cite web |first=Jennifer |last=Vernon |date=15 March 2004 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0312_040312_stpatrick_2.html |title=St. Patrick's Day: Fact vs. Fiction |website=National Geographic News |page=2 |access-date=31 March 2009 |archive-date=2 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202063415/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0312_040312_stpatrick_2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jill |last=Newell |url=http://www.csulb.edu/~d49er/spring00/news/v7n91-holiday.html |title=Holiday has history |work=Daily Forty-Niner |date=16 March 2000 |volume=7 |issue=91 |access-date=21 March 2009 |archive-date=16 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316052428/http://www.csulb.edu/~d49er/spring00/news/v7n91-holiday.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This story first appears in writing in 1726, though it may be older. In pagan Ireland, three was a significant number and the Irish had many [[triple deity|triple deities]], which may have aided St Patrick in his [[evangelism|evangelisation]] efforts.<ref name="Monaghan2009">{{cite book|last=Monaghan|first=Patricia|title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-438-11037-0 |quote=There is no evidence that the clover or wood sorrel (both of which are called shamrocks) were sacred to the Celts in any way. However, the Celts had a philosophical and cosmological vision of triplicity, with many of their divinities appearing in three. Thus when St Patrick, attempting to convert the Druids on Beltane, held up a shamrock and discoursed on the Christian Trinity, the three-in-one god, he was doing more than finding a homely symbol for a complex religious concept. He was indicating knowledge of the significance of three in the Celtic realm, a knowledge that probably made his mission far easier and more successful than if he had been unaware of that number's meaning.}}</ref><ref name="Hegarty2012">{{cite book|last=Hegarty|first=Neil|title=Story of Ireland|date=24 April 2012|publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-1-448-14039-8 |quote=In some ways, though, the Christian mission resonated: pre-Christian devotion was characterized by, for example, the worship of gods in groups of three, by sayings collected in threes (triads), and so on – from all of which the concept of the Holy Trinity was not so very far removed. Against this backdrop the myth of Patrick and his three-leafed shamrock fits quite neatly.}}</ref> Roger Homan writes, "We can perhaps see St Patrick drawing upon the visual concept of the ''[[Triple spiral|triskele]]'' when he uses the shamrock to explain the Trinity".<ref>{{cite book|last=Homan|first=Roger|title=The Art of the Sublime: Principles of Christian Art and Architecture|year=2006|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|page=37}}</ref> [[Patricia Monaghan]] says there is no evidence the shamrock was sacred to the pagan Irish.<ref name="Monaghan2009" /> [[Jack Santino]] speculates that it may have represented the regenerative powers of nature, and was recast in a Christian context{{nsmdns}}[[icon]]s of Saint Patrick often depict the saint "with a [[Christian cross|cross]] in one hand and a sprig of shamrocks in the other".<ref name="Santino1995">{{cite book|last=Santino|first=Jack|title=All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life|year=1995|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06516-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/allaroundyear00jack/page/80 80]|url=https://archive.org/details/allaroundyear00jack/page/80}}</ref>

The first association of the colour green with Ireland is from a legend in the 11th century ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' (The Book of the Taking of Ireland). It tells of [[Goídel Glas]] (Goídel the green), the [[eponymous ancestor]] of the [[Gaels]] and creator of the [[Goidelic languages]] ([[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Manx language|Manx]]).<ref name=Koch2005/><ref name=MacKillop2005/> Goídel is bitten by a venomous snake but saved from death by [[Moses]] placing his staff on the snakebite, leaving him with a green mark. His descendants settle in Ireland, a land free of snakes.<ref name=Macalister1939/> One of the first, [[Milesians (Irish)|Íth]], visits Ireland after climbing the [[Tower of Hercules]] and being captivated by the sight of a beautiful green island in the distance.<ref name=Koch2005/><ref name=MacKillop2005/><ref name=Macalister1939/>

The colour green was further associated with Ireland from the 1640s, when the [[Flag and coat of arms of Leinster|green harp flag]] was used by the [[Confederate Ireland|Irish Catholic Confederation]]. Later, [[James Connolly]] described this flag as representing "the sacred emblem of Ireland's unconquered soul".<ref>Phelan, Rachel, (May/June 2016). [https://www.historyireland.com/volume-24/james-connollys-green-flag-ireland/ "James Connolly's ‘Green Flag of Ireland'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111175128/https://www.historyireland.com/volume-24/james-connollys-green-flag-ireland/ |date=11 November 2020 }} [[History Ireland]] Vol. 24 Issue 3, pp. 8–9. Retrieved from History Ireland on 26 March 2018</ref> Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on Saint Patrick's Day since at least the 1680s.{{sfnp|Cronin|Adair|2002}} Since then, the colour green and its association with St Patrick's Day have grown.<ref name="history.com">{{Cite video |url=http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/videos#green |title=St. Patrick: Why Green? – video |publisher=A&E Television Networks |website=History.com |access-date=17 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307170353/http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/videos |archive-date=7 March 2010 }}</ref> The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish [[fraternity]] founded in about 1750,<ref>Kelly, James. ''That Damn'd Thing Called Honour: Duelling in Ireland, 1570–1860''. Cork University Press, 1995. p.65</ref> adopted green as its colour.<ref>''The Fundamental Laws, Statutes and Constitutions of the Ancient Order of the Friendly Brothers of Saint Patrick''. 1751.</ref> The [[Order of St Patrick]], an Anglo-Irish [[chivalric order]] founded in 1783, instead adopted blue as its colour, which led to blue being [[St. Patrick's blue|associated with Saint Patrick]]. In the 1790s, the colour green was adopted by the [[United Irishmen]]. This was a [[Irish republicanism|republican]] organisation—founded mostly by Protestants but with many Catholic members—who launched a [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|rebellion in 1798]] against British rule. Ireland was first called "the Emerald Isle" in "When Erin First Rose" (1795), a poem by a co-founder of the United Irishmen, [[William Drennan]], which stresses the historical importance of green to the Irish.<ref>Drennan, William. [https://www.libraryireland.com/CIL/DrennanErin.php When Ireland First Rose] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205154813/https://www.libraryireland.com/CIL/DrennanErin.php |date=5 February 2021 }}. in Charles A. Reed (ed.) (1884) The Cabinet of Irish Literature. Volume 2. Retrieved 2 February 2021 via Library Ireland</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Maye|first=Brian|date=3 February 2020|title=Star of the 'Emerald Isle' – An Irishman's Diary on William Drennan|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/star-of-the-emerald-isle-an-irishman-s-diary-on-william-drennan-1.4160503|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=2 February 2021|archive-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205143053/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/star-of-the-emerald-isle-an-irishman-s-diary-on-william-drennan-1.4160503|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Langan |first=Sheila |date=13 June 2017 |title=How did Ireland come to be called the Emerald Isle? Ireland's resplendent greenery played a big part, of course, in earning it the nickname the Emerald Isle but there's more to the story. |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/how-did-ireland-come-to-be-called-the-emerald-isle |work=IrishCentral |access-date=2 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208034001/https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/how-did-ireland-come-to-be-called-the-emerald-isle |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 January 2021 |title=When Erin First Rose, Irish poem |url=http://ireland-calling.com/william-drennan-when-erin-first-rose/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116170257/http://ireland-calling.com/william-drennan-when-erin-first-rose/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> The phrase "wearing of the green" comes from a [[The Wearing of the Green|song of the same name]] about United Irishmen being persecuted for wearing green. The [[List of flags of Ireland#Political flags|flags]] of the [[Easter Rising|1916 Easter Rising]] featured green, such as the [[Starry Plough (flag)|Starry Plough banner]] and the [[Irish Republic|Proclamation Flag of the Irish Republic]]. When the [[Irish Free State]] was founded in 1922, the government ordered all [[Pillar box#Ireland|post boxes]] be painted green, with the slogan "green paint for a green people";<ref name=Ferguson2016>{{cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Stephen |year=2016 |title=The Post Office in Ireland: An Illustrated History |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hV1mDwAAQBAJ&q=green+irish+post+box&pg=PT339 |location=Newbridge: Co Kildare |publisher=Irish Academic Press |isbn=9781911024323 |access-date=2 February 2021 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519151109/https://books.google.com/books?id=hV1mDwAAQBAJ&q=green+irish+post+box&pg=PT339 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Harrison |first=Bernice |date=18 March 2017 |title=Design Moment: Green post box, c1922: What to do with all those bloody red Brit boxes dotting the Free State? Paint 'em green |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/interiors/design-moment-green-post-box-c1922-1.3004436 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=2 February 2021 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112003532/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/interiors/design-moment-green-post-box-c1922-1.3004436 |url-status=live }}</ref> in 1924, the government introduced a green [[Irish passport]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Fanning|first=Mary|date=12 November 1984|title=Green Passport Goes Burgendy 1984: New Passports for European Member States Will Have a Common Look and Format|url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/1024/1085411-new-european-passport/|work=[[RTÉ Libraries and Archives|RTE News Archives]]|access-date=2 February 2021|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126070731/https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/1024/1085411-new-european-passport/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EUED">[https://books.google.com/books?id=NU07cD6NEJQC&dq=eec+resolution+passport+burgundy+january+1985&pg=PA63 The European Union Encyclopedia and Directory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208032351/https://books.google.es/books?id=NU07cD6NEJQC&pg=PA63&dq=eec+resolution+passport+burgundy+january+1985&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG0Y3Iu_TpAhXiz4UKHSY_DNcQ6AEISDAD#v=onepage&q=eec%20resolution%20passport%20burgundy%20january%201985&f=false |date=8 February 2021 }}. (1999). 3rd Ed. p63 {{ISBN|9781857430561}}.</ref><ref 
name="EURes1981">[https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:41981X0919&from=EN Resolution of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Communities, Meeting Within the Council of 23 June 1981] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715155510/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:41981X0919&from=EN |date=15 July 2020 }}. Official Journal of the European Communities. C 241. also [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:41981X0919:EN:HTML EUR-Lex - 41981X0919 - EN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401132739/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:41981X0919:EN:HTML |date=1 April 2019 }}</ref>

The wearing of the 'St Patrick's Day Cross' was also a popular custom in Ireland until the early 20th century. These were a [[Celtic cross|Celtic Christian cross]] made of paper that was "covered with silk or ribbon of different colours, and a bunch or rosette of green silk in the centre".{{sfnp|Cronin|Adair|2002 |pp=25–26|ps=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5TYHqrao2PwC&pg=PA25]}}