St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish-American thing
CITYWIDE While the day has since become an excuse to booze it up in festive green clothes or pinch people wearing anything but, St. Patrick’s Day was actually once the celebration of a saint who wasn’t even Irish.
The story began late in the fourth century when the Briton was kidnapped by Irish pirates and grew up a slave in Ireland, according to Joseph Nagy, an English professor who teaches a course on Celtic languages and literature at UCLA.
But after managing an escape back to Britain, St. Patrick, under the inspiration of God, decided to return to Ireland as a missionary to convert the Irish population to Christianity. Historians believe this occurred around 432 A.D.
There were probably already Christians in Ireland at the time, but St. Patrick was significant in helping spread the faith in the potato-loving country.
“He left a letter in which he angrily complains about the mistreatment of Christians and it seems to be a writing to the Irish king or the British king,” Nagy said.
Though historians aren’t clear on the exact year when St. Patrick died, some believe he passed away on March 17, 461, hence, the day set aside for his remembrance, as well as a wee bit o’ revelry.
His life was celebrated within a few hundred years of his death.
In the Irish Christian tradition, a saint’s life is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, contrary to what many believe. In commemoration of the St. Patrick’s death, the Irish traditionally visit sites in Ireland that have a special connection with the saint.
In the case of St. Patrick, that means a visit to Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, known as St. Patrick’s sacred mountain, where he fasted.
But St. Patrick’s Day didn’t really catch on until the late 19th to early 20th centuries,with the mass immigration of Irish to America. With them, the Irish brought a celebration of their heritage to the new country.
“St. Patrick’s Day... has been redefined by the millions of Irish who went abroad in the 19th century and grew nostalgic of the country and focused on St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate Irishness,” Nagy said.
Everyone celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in a different way.
Today, the UCLA professor will be flying to Scotland and not participating in things that are typically considered as St. Patrick’s Day activities. His traditional day usually starts with a visit to the local Catholic church for mass and ends with munching on Irish potato candies from See’s.
For the untold number of other St. Patrick’s observers, they are praising the Lord that the holiday falls on a Saturday this year, allowing them to pencil in untold hours of drinking green beer at their local pubs.
“Drinking is a custom associated with all sorts of festivals,” Nagy said. “There’s nothing unusual about that.”
“The elevation of St. Patrick’s Day into a celebration of Irishness... started among Irish Americans, not the Irish themselves,” he added.
At Sonny McLean’s, a Boston Irish-themed pub on Wilshire Boulevard, bartenders expect to see the bar packed to capacity all night long, as St. Patrick’s marks the busiest day of the year. Latecomers can expect to pay a cover charge of about $10 beginning in the late afternoon.
The festivities will start early at Finn McCool’s on Main Street, where doors will open at 9 a.m. as 93.1 FM will broadcast live from the restaurant/pub. Last year, there was a three hour wait outside the restaurant.
“This place is jumping (on St. Patrick’s Day),” said owner Geraldine Gilliland.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.