The “Stealing of the Statue” is an annual St. Patrick’s Day tradition in Mt. Adams, a suburb of Cincinnati. A yearly Mass honours St. Patrick and the local members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians who have passed away over the last year The Mass culminates with stealing the Read more
Wearing green has become a staple of St Patrick’s Day but Saint Patrick’s colour was blue, not green, say historians. The hue — St Patrick’s blue, a lighter shade — can still be seen on ancient Irish flags. But the use of green on St. Patrick’s Day began during the 1798 Irish Rebellion when the Read more
On March 17, the world celebrates the feast day of St Patrick, a zealous British bishop of the fifth century who became famous for spreading Christianity in Ireland. Patrick is Ireland’s main patron saint. But as a medieval historian, I suggest that we also pause to remember another of Ireland’s patron saints, the nurturing, compassionate Read more
A 22-year-old man became the first person in recorded Irish history to sustain a snake bite, roughly 1,600 years after St. Patrick is said to have banished all serpents from that nation. Catholic tradition has it that St. Patrick drove them all off a cliff in the 5th century. Read more
Though green dominates the celebrations today, it was the colour blue – a shade known as St Patrick’s blue – that was first associated with the saint. The earliest depictions of St Patrick show him in blue garments, and the colour also appears on ancient Irish flags. Read some more little known facts about St Read more
St Patrick was a slave and a migrant with no papers, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Amargh said. He reminded those celebrating St Patrick’s feast day last Friday to remember the plight of migrants. “As Irish people, we cannot think of Patrick without acknowledging the enormous humanitarian and pastoral challenges facing growing numbers of people who Read more
For Catholics, Episcopalians and some Lutherans, March 17 is the Feast Day of St. Patrick. For the rest of us, it’s St. Patrick’s Day — a midweek excuse to party until we’re green in the face. But who was Patrick? Did he really drive the snakes out of Ireland or use the shamrock to explain Read more
St Patrick is one of a handful of Christian saints, along with Mary, Valentine and Francis, that is celebrated in popular culture. His feast day is commemorated with supermarket meat sales, green rivers, green beer, and (my favourite) parades. But who was the real St Patrick? Most people know that the missionary Patrick (Patricius or Pádraig) Read more
An estimated half-million people crowded Saturday into central Dublin to view the St. Patrick’s Day parade, a focal point for Irish celebrations worldwide and the start of the tourist season in debt-battered Ireland.
Bands from Britain, the United States and Russia joined thousands of Irish volunteers on Saturday’s two-hour procession down Dublin’s major boulevard, O’Connell Street, across the River Liffey, past Trinity College and concluding outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
In his St. Patrick’s Day message, Catholic Cardinal Sean Brady offered prayers to the estimated 50,000 citizens who have emigrated in the past year to escape Ireland’s weak economy.
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