NewsSouth

Many Americans view St. Patrick’s Day as a reason to celebrate and drink, even though they may not know what they are celebrating.

The real story began in the fourth century when Patrick, a 16-year-old from Britain, was kidnapped after Irish raiders ransacked his parent’s estate.

For six years he was held captive in Ireland, made into a slave and worked as a shepherd. Practicing religion helped him endure his isolation and he soon became a devout Christian.

After six years as an Irish prisoner, Patrick escaped to Britain, where it was said he had a revelation from an angel that said he needed to do missionary work back in Ireland. After this revelation, Patrick went through a religious training that lasted more than 15 years.

Patrick became a priest and traveled back to Ireland to preach to Christians there and to convert those who were not, becoming one of Ireland’s most influential leaders.

St. Patrick’s day, March 17, continues as an Irish religious holiday and the anniversary of his death.

So how did this religious holiday become manifest in the United States?

“During the 1700s and 1800s little waves of immigrants would trickle in from Ireland,” said Fintan Moore, professor of Gaelic at St. Thomas. “But it was the potato famines of 1845 and 1847 that brought wave after wave of Irish immigrants.”

Before these potato famines there were roughly eight million people living in Ireland and after there were about four million. Moore estimates that about two million died and two million left.

These immigrants settled in large cities such as New York, Boston, San Francisco and St. Paul where they kept their traditions alive. These traditions, however, were not closed to non-Irish; the celebrations were open to everyone.

With this mixture of cross cultures, new traditions emerged such as leprechauns and shamrocks, neither of which originated in Ireland. But both became a new part of an old tradition.

“We sent it here and then it seemed to be sent right back to us,” Moore said.

The language changed, as well.

Words like galore, meaning plenty, bog, meaning soft, and whisky, meaning the water of life, carry the same meaning between the cultures. Other words and phrases have different meanings.

The phrase screaming like a banshee refers to the screams and cries that a monkey would make in America. However, in Irish the word refers to a much larger concept.

“Banshee” comes from the Irish word bean sídhe, which means angel/woman of Fairyland,” Moore said. “It’s the idea that she comes from another world.”

It is believed that in the middle of the night she will stay outside of a house and scream, signifying someone in that house will die.

Another popular word: crack. To the Irish , it means to have “good fun with your friends.” Often, the Irish will say “what’s the crack,” meaning “what’s up?”

“There is an urban legend that a woman came from Ireland to Boston to meet with some friends and have some ‘good fun.’ When she arrived in customs they asked her what she was going to be doing there. She told them she had come for some good ‘crack.’ Needless to say customs sent her right back to Ireland,” Moore said.