St. Patrick’s Day traditions are a fun way to celebrate the holiday. Most school students get really excited about the wearing green or you get pinched tradition, but what about the other traditions? The following is a look at some of the top St. Patrick’s Day traditions:
1. Wearing green. The funny thing about this tradition is that it is not even an Irish tradition at all, it originated in the US, and goes against much of Irish custom. In fact, in Ireland, wearing green is considered unlucky. The reason this is so is that before Ireland was liberated their flag was green. So, the color reminds the Irish of when they were not free. The pinching part of the tradition is not from Ireland either, in fact, school kids made it up, and because it is so mean and fun, it carried over and is no longer just for school kids.
2. Eating Irish food and drinking green beer. While much of the food eaten is traditionally Irish, even the most popular, corned beef and cabbage is not actually very Irish. Rather the Irish immigrants started it because they could not afford bacon, which is what was traditionally eaten with the boiled cabbage. Jews near the Irish immigrant communities in Boston showed the Irish that corned beef was a less expensive version of bacon. So, again you get a St. Patrick’s Day tradition that originated in the US. Drinking green beer has no real historical Irish roots either, but is a fun way to let loose and drink more than you normally would.
3. Leprechauns in décor. Leprechauns are part of the St. Patrick’s Day tradition because of the role they play in Irish tradition and legend. The leprechaun is said to be the shoe maker for the fairies and get paid in gold. They hide their gold at the end of rainbows, and if caught, they can’t tell a lie. So, legend holds that if you capture a leprechaun you can force them to tell you where their gold is hidden. So, if you want to enjoy this part of the tradition you can hunt for leprechauns and use little leprechaun clip art and cutouts to show your festivity.
4. Shamrocks. A shamrock is part of the St. Patrick’s Day tradition because St. Patrick slotted it as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, bound together like the 3 leaves on the clover bound by one stock. If the clover has four leaves it is not a shamrock, and represents God’s grace. It is considered to be full of luck because it is rare. Luck is associated with the holiday and leprechauns, etc.
There are a number of Irish traditions and St. Patrick’s Day traditions, some are not really from Ireland at all, and some are. Choose the ones you like best!