Editing Saint Patrick's Day (section)

===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]}}