Monday, March 16, 1998
Beyond Riverdance
Before you kiss the Blarney Sone, pinch people not wearing
green, grab a colored brew and see if you can catch a leprechaun,
find out the real deal behind St. Patrick’s Day
By Michelle Navarro
Daily Bruin Staff
From pots of gold at the rainbow’s end to magically delicious
cereals, Irish folklore has woven its way into America. However,
nothing illustrates this more than the festivities sparked by St.
Patrick’s Day. Come March 17, everybody’s Irish.
But there is a wee bit more to it than just shamrocks, mugs o’
beer, buttons that say "kiss me, I’m Irish," the Lucky Charms guy
and wearing green. Although each of those have traces to Irish
culture, they’re not the cause for the celebration. March 17 is
actually a day reserved by the Catholic Church to commemorate a
saint by the name of (surprise surprise) Patrick.
The factual history of the saint is blended with a tad of
legend. A few of the stories surrounding St. Patrick have not been
confirmed, making it difficult to draw the line between folklore
and fact.
"There’s a lot of myth and misinformation," said Cindy
Yoshitomi, campus minister for the University Catholic Center.
As it is told, St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish, and his name was
originally Maewyn Succat. Some reports say he was born during the
latter half of fourth century A.D. in Wales, while still others
report he was born in Scotland.
Either way, most confirm that at the age of 16, the pagan was
kidnapped by pirates. Apparently the luck o’ the Irish wasn’t with
him just yet. He was then sold into slavery, working as a shepherd,
in Ireland. While in captivity, Patrick discovered
Christianity.
"After I came to Ireland – every day I had to tend sheep, and
many times a day I prayed – the love of God and His fear came to me
more and more, and my faith was strengthened," reads a passage
taken from the confessions of St. Patrick as translated from Latin
by Ludwig Bieler.
According to one book on saints, Patrick ran away after six
years when a dream told him to be ready for a courageous effort
that would return him to his homeland.
He escaped to the continent and studied to become a priest.
Patrick wanted to return to Ireland to bring Christianity into the
relatively pagan country. However, someone else, St. Palladius, was
sent to be Ireland’s missionary. It wasn’t until two years later,
when Patrick was 60 years old, that he was made bishop of
Ireland.
The validity of the stories that follow continue to be debated
to this day.
Several paintings of St. Patrick show his foot upon a snake.
This is because he is said to have driven the snakes out of
Ireland.
This could be taken at face value, although some historians say
that snakes never even resided in the land of the leprechauns,
since Ireland broke off from the European continent after the Ice
Age. There is another option to interpreting the legend
metaphorically.
It might have been a symbolic way of saying he drove paganism
from Ireland. This would make sense since the snake is a revered
pagan icon.
Yet Irish nuns offered Yoshitomi another take on the story in
the 1950s.
"When he came to Ireland, there was a matriarchy," Yoshitomi
explained. "In their ceremonies, the women would use snakes. So to
the women in Ireland, when you say St. Patrick drove the snakes
from Ireland, it meant he took the power away from them."
Legend also has it that Patrick was the sole man responsible for
converting the Irish to Christianity. Whether or not he completed
that hefty task alone, he did at least play a role in it. As bishop
of Ireland, he established and protected schools, churches and
monasteries. The saint also rid Ireland of their practice of human
sacrifice, said Yoshitomi.
A more popular tale links St. Patrick’s sermons and the tiny
green plant of luck, the shamrock. According to sources, he used
the shamrock to illustrate the Three in One concept: the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The number three wasn’t foreign to the pagans however, because
it is a mystical number in the Celtic religion. So more than
likely, Patrick knew of the gravity of his representation and used
it to his advantage.
Bar-goers may remember St. Patrick for a less religious
contribution he made, the Pota Phadraig.
According to a book written by Daithi O’ Hogain, the Pota
Phadraig is a drink of whiskey that began when Patrick had been
given a short serving of it at a lodge. He then proceeded to tell
the innkeeper that the devil was living off of the innkeeper’s
dishonesty in the cellar. Naturally, this news frightened him.
Patrick told him to change his ways to rid himself from the demon
downstairs.
When Patrick returned after some time, he found the innkeeper
was more generous with his servings of the hard stuff. This in turn
weakened the devil, who was then cast out by Patrick.
In celebration, Patrick declared that all should enjoy a drink
of the spirits from then on on his feast day. Today, the drink is
known as "drowning the Shamrock" because the tradition is to float
the little three-leafed plant in the drink before guzzling.
Thus it is the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death that is
remembered and observed. What’s surprising is how this religious
holiday has grown to be a national holiday where Americans
basically party hard, wear green, and look for four-leafed clovers
and leprechauns. Is that really fair to stereotype the Irish in
terms of the angry little men?
"That’s the fun side of the Irish," Yoshitomi said, who is of
Irish descent.
"Celtic mythology is really environmentally conscious. They are
people of the Earth and they speak metaphorically. It’s a language
full of myth. So, it’s not insulting about the leprechauns."
Yoshitomi explained how the leprechaun reflects the
"punkishness" of the Irish. "The stereotype is quite good, it fits
us."
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is not celebrated in the same
manner as it is in America. It is merely what it originally was, a
feast day for a saint.
John-William DeClaris, who has a web page dedicated to St.
Patrick’s Day, sees America’s response to the holiday as the
acceptance of those of Irish decent in the United States.
"In modern-day America, St. Patrick’s Day is a day for Irish
Americans to celebrate their ethnic background," said DeClaris.
"There was once a day when the Irish were looked down upon by their
fellow Americans.
"The average Irishman was a poor immigrant with low skills and
even lower respect."
Yoshitomi agrees, saying that it grew out of the oppression of
the Irish and as a means for them to prove to the United States
that they were more than what people saw them as at the time.
"It’s kind of like Cinco de Mayo," she said. "It was a way for
them to say, ‘We’re here, we’re American, let’s have fun
together.’"