St. Paddy's Day

Before I moved to Ireland, I must admit, I didn’t know a whole lot about this holiday. Of course I knew that St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over the country…by all the Irish. However, I did not exactly know who St. Patrick was and why he was so important to Ireland. I know that we have probably talked about it in school and I should be familiar with the tradition, but sadly I am not. Thankfully I have learned a thing or two about this figure in the past couple of days. And I am going to tell you all about it.

It all started on Wednesday the 15th of March at around half past two. The primary school where my work placement is had organised a St. Patrick’s Day concert, they do this every year. For this concert almost every class prepares a song, prayer or a play related to the holiday. One group had prepared a role-play about the life of St. Patrick. From his early life up to the day he died.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was 14 years old he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd sheep. During his time in Ireland he turned to God and started praying day and night. His faith grew and in a dream he had God told him that he should escape, go back to England. Back in England an Irishman came to him and gave him a letter in which was written that the Irish wanted him to walk among them. After receiving this letter he decided to study for the priesthood. He later was ordinated a bishop and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He converted many people and built churches across the country. He often used shamrocks to explain the holy trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
Long story short, St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and we celebrate him on the date he died. March 17th.

All who celebrate this holiday must know that the festivities start on March 16th. Every club, pub and bar open their doors for St. Paddy’s celebrations. So as an Erasmus student I wanted to experience the whole event…With all the Erasmus Students we went to a club/bar with a live band and stayed there till the end of the night. The following morning we went to the city center to see the parade…which was kind of a disappointment for me because I could not see a lot. I was very crowded. Very crowded. And also the most of the parade was over within 10-15 minutes. What do you do next? Start drinking. I have found out that starting to drink at 1 is too late. We were walking through the students’ area (what they call the holy lands) and most of the people I came across were completely smashed, as they say. The atmosphere in this neighbourhood was great, everyone was happy and singing songs and of course drinking. A party was going on in almost every house. After walking around for a while we decided to take the party back home and make our own house party. I had a great time! What I do feel is that St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are as any other weekend in the pubs and clubs. The only difference is that a lot of people wear green.

St. Patrick’s Day: Definitely good craic. Maybe not worth visiting Belfast for, in my opinion.