David Vance SubstackRead More
Well, first of all, may I wish all my Irish friends a very Happy St Patrick’s Day. That said, I think that St Patrick would absolutely HATE the annual drunken festival that is celebrated in his name today, March 17th!
Let’s understand WHO St. Patrick was and WHY he would oppose St Patrick’s Day!
St. Patrick who as we all know is the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Roman Britain around 385 AD, though the exact date is uncertain. His birth name was likely Maewyn Succat. (Not as catchy)! As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and enslaved in Ireland, where he worked as a shepherd for six years. During this time, he turned to Christianity for solace, claiming to have received visions from God. He eventually escaped and returned to Britain.
After his return, Patrick studied Christianity and was ordained as a priest. Around 432 AD, he felt a divine calling to return to Ireland as a missionary. Despite initial resistance from local chieftains and druids, he successfully spread Christianity across the island. He’s credited with baptising thousands, ordaining priests, and establishing churches. One famous legend claims he used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to the Irish. Patrick died on March 17, around 461 AD, a date now celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day. While some details of his life are debated, his legacy as a symbol of Irish identity and faith endures. Many stories, like banishing snakes from Ireland, are likely symbolic rather than factual, as snakes were never native to the island! (They are, however, numerous in Irish politics)
Regardless of the accuracy of the legends, I think we can safely assume that Patrick was indeed a Christian and helped spread the Gospel on the island of Ireland.
It’s THAT simple truth which puts him in conflict with the day named after him.
It was emigrants, particularly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick’s Day into a largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants, who often wielded political power, staged the most extensive celebrations, which included elaborate parades. Boston held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, followed by New York City in 1762. Since 1962 Chicago has coloured its river green to mark the holiday. (Although blue was the colour traditionally associated with St. Patrick, green is now commonly connected with the day.) Irish and non-Irish alike commonly participate in the “wearing of the green”—sporting an item of green clothing or a shamrock, the Irish national plant, in the lapel.
So St Patrick’s Day is mostly a SECULAR celebration of “Irishness” rather than Irish Christianity.
And what of modern Ireland?
Well, the land of Saints and Scholars has embraced abortion, the LGBT+ agenda, Islam, mass migration. In short it is a globalist cesspit with a WEF Government. Too many Irish have turned their back on St Patrick and the values that he stood for. I have huge respect for Ireland and Irish people but can’t help but feel that St Patrick himself, that long dead Christian missionary, would be horrified by the day named after him.
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