St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching. This is one of my favorite holidays. I’ve got some Irish blood in me, and I adore Irish culture, art, and music year round. Keep in mind, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday observed in the Catholic church. It’s also a day reserved to celebrate Irish heritage and pride. It has become a “party day” for many (even for those with no Irish ancestry at all), but hopefully we can all remember and celebrate that there’s more to this day than dressing in green, wearing a big floppy hat or shamrock glasses, and drinking beer. By the way, if you’re going to drink a beer with some color, make sure it’s either a dark brown Guinness or maybe a nice Irish red, like Killian’s. Stay away from the green stuff-it’s inauthentic and gross. Don’t be that person.
Anyway, since the Emerald Isle will be front and center on everyone’s mind over the next week or so, I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the myths many people believe about Ireland, and perhaps set the record straight a bit. This will give you some interesting things to talk about at your St. Patrick’s day shindig. Provided, of course, you are in any shape to talk. Let’s dive in.
*St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland
Well, no, not technically. Ireland is inhabitable to snakes, and there’s little or no evidence to suggest that there ever were any snakes to begin with. This story is more of an allegory about St. Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland. Trouble is, it’s not actually that cut and dried.
As near as anybody can figure, St. Patrick was born in Britain or Wales around 390 CE (common, or current, era.) His name was Maewyn, and he was captured in an Irish raid while a teenager. He spent six years in Irish imprisonment (or possibly slavery) before he escaped. Later in life he became a man of the cloth, and went back to Ireland as a missionary because he knew the language and customs and he loved the people.
So that’s where we get the story-St. Patrick drove out the “snakes”, which in this case would be the Pagans. Except he didn’t. Paganism lasted well beyond St. Patrick’s time, and is still practiced today, in Ireland and around the world. Sure, Ireland is predominately Christian now, but it took a long time for the religion to take hold.
St. Patrick may or may not have been the first Christian in Ireland, and he may or may not have used the Shamrock to explain the trinity, as the story goes. None of his writings mention this as far as I can tell. It’s possible that this idea was merely attributed to him over the years, as the stories and myths about the man grew large enough to blend with and, perhaps, overtake the truth.
Still, the patron saint of Ireland is remembered and revered for good reason in the church and beyond.
*Green is the National Color of Ireland
Nope. Ireland has no official color, but many would argue for blue, which was the first color to be used in association with St. Patrick’s Day. Blue is used on the Coat of Arms of Ireland, and the Presidential Standard, a flag flown at the presidential residence.
*The Shamrock is the national symbol of Ireland
Nope again. It’s the harp. The harp is proudly displayed on both the National Coat of Arms, and on the Guinness label. How much more official can you get?
*Ireland is full of redheads
Gonna have to burst your bubble here, but this is a stereotype. The number of redheads in Ireland is probably closer to 10% of the population than the majority that most people in other countries assume. That’s still a lot of people, but far from a majority.
*All Irish people are drunkards.
Really? Okay, so, yeah, alcohol is a large part of the culture, and many social events center around drink. That’s true of most countries, including the USA. Also, there are just, like, a lot of Irish folk songs about alcohol too. Irish pubs are widely renowned, and nearly every major city around the world has an Irish-style pub. So maybe there’s a little truth here, but it’s still a stereotype. As of 2020, studies showed that roughly 20% of the Irish population didn’t drink alcohol at all, and certainly not all who drink do so irresponsibly.
*It is illegal be drunk or swear on a Sunday in Ireland
Actually, yeah. This law was enacted in 1661, prohibiting “drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and profaning of the Lord’s Day.” Shows you how far St. Patrick’s influence got. This law was finally taken off the books in 2015, but something tells me it wasn’t taken very seriously by most people.
Well, there you go, some interesting Irish info for you. I could go on, but I need to save some stuff for next year. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, MonDavers! See you next week.
MonDAVEs with Dave Brink 