We know that many people tend to wear a lot of green, drink green beer, and feel the need to drink lots of alcohol in general.  But how much do you know about St. Patrick himself?  The funny thing is that while people go from pub to pub dressed in green and drinking copious amounts of Guinness, very few of them ever think about the St. Patrick in “St. Patrick’s Day”.  

St. Patrick is the most significant (and famous) patron saint of Ireland.  As Irish as we tend to think it is, however, St. Patrick’s Day in the exact way that we in North America think of it and celebrate it, was actually invented in the United States.  It was originally simply a saint’s day in Ireland, and then eventually was celebrated with parades and other kinds of celebration outside the church.  However, it was in the United States that St. Patrick’s Day became a kind of over the top celebration of Irish culture, or stereotypes of, and oversimplification about, Irish culture.

Here is a very simply told, brief, and clear telling of St. Patrick’s life:  

Source: YouTube