Editing Saint Patrick's Day (section)

=== History ===
Saint Patrick's [[feast day]], as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries.<ref>Liam de Paor: ''St. Patrick's World, The Christian Culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age.'' Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1993</ref> Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the [[liturgical calendar]] of the Catholic Church in the early 1600s, due to the influence of [[Waterford]]-born [[Franciscan]] scholar [[Luke Wadding]].<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Catholic Encyclopedia: Luke Wadding''|access-date=15 February 2007|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15521d.htm|archive-date=17 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717232455/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15521d.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Saint Patrick's Day thus became a [[holy day of obligation]] for Catholics in Ireland. It is also a feast day in the [[Church of Ireland]], part of the [[Anglican Communion]]. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during [[Holy Week]]. This happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick's Day was officially observed on 3 April to avoid it coinciding with [[Palm Sunday]], and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 15 March.<ref>[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/9917/irish-bishops-move-st-patricks-day-2008-over-conflict-with-holy-week "Irish bishops move St. Patrick's Day 2008 over conflict with Holy Week"], ''Catholic News''</ref> Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.<ref>{{Cite news|title=St. Patrick's Day, Catholic Church march to different drummers|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-03-05-stpatrick_N.htm|work=USA Today|access-date=11 March 2008|date=6 March 2008|first=G. Jeffrey|last=MacDonald|archive-date=10 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310032319/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-03-05-stpatrick_N.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=194136 |title=No St. Pat's Day Mass allowed in Holy Week |access-date=13 March 2008 |author=Nevans-Pederson, Mary |date=13 March 2008 |work=Dubuque Telegraph Herald |publisher=Woodward Communications, Inc. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016055134/http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=194136 |archive-date=16 October 2008 }}</ref> However, the popular festivities may still be held on 17 March or on a weekend near to the feast day.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Patrick's Day|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|date=17 March 2021|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Patricks-Day}}</ref>

Saint Patrick's was perceived as the middle day of [[Spring (season)|spring]] in the [[Irish calendar]]. People expected that weather would be improved following the festival, and farmers would begin planting potato.<ref name="Danaher">Danaher, Kevin (1972) ''The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs'' Dublin, Mercier. {{ISBN|1-85635-093-2}} p. 58-66</ref>