St. Patrick’s birth name was Maewyn, and he was born in Britain. He was kidnapped into slavery and brought to Ireland. He escaped to Gaul, France and was there converted to Christianity. He went back to Ireland in 432 as a missionary. Patrick became a bishop and after his death, he was named Ireland’s patron saint. Eighteenth-century Irish soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War held the first St. Patrick’s Day parades. The celebrations became a way for the Irish to connect with their roots after the moved to America.

                                                                              Anna B.

http://www.gpb.org/education/origins-of-st-patricks-day

                  St. Patrick´s Day

                      By: Halle Westbrook

                        Have you ever wondered about St. Patrick´s Day´s history? I know I have. But the story is actually kind of crazy! According to GPB Media,¨St. Patrick's Day celebrates the Roman Catholic feast day of the patron saint of Ireland.¨ It also says that St. Patrick is not even Irish! He was born in Roman Britain. He was captured into slavery and brought to Ireland. It states,¨He escaped to a monastery in Gaul (France) and converted to Christianity. He went back to Ireland in 432 as a missionary. While Christianity had already taken hold in the country, tradition has it that Patrick confronted the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites, making Christianity more widespread. Patrick became a bishop and after his death was named Ireland's patron saint. Celebrations in Ireland were understated though. When the Irish emigrated to the U.S., they created the bigger celebrations and parades known today.¨ And that is how we got St. Patrick´s Day!

St. Patrick's Day

        Many think of St. Patricks day as the day you wear green so that your friends don't pinch you, but there is so much more to it than that! Where did it come from, anyways? According to St. Patrick's Day, St. Patrick's day started when the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, passed away. Originally, families would feast, dance, and drink to celebrate his life. Now, we do slightly different things for St. Patricks day. Some of the things we do are wear green and and attend parades. As St. Patrick's Day states, "More than 100 St. Patrick's Day parades are held across the United States." That's insane! As you can see, there's nothing too fancy about our traditions, but they are what we know.

-Scarlett Deuel (I don't know what was happening with my spacing)

St. Patricks Day

  Did you know St. Patricks Day is only a legal holiday in Suffolk County, Massachusetts and Savannah, Georgia? Apart from this fun fact, this holiday is celebrated across the whole U.S. According to st. patricks day , "American immigrants brought Saint Patrick’s Day to the United States. The first civic and public celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day in the 13 colonies took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. " This holiday as it says on wikipedia is mostly celebrated as a recognition of Irish and Irish American culture. There are lots of ways we celebrate St. Patricks day. The most common things most do on St. Patricks day is, wear green, lots attend parades, and some towns even die water at public places green. Something my family does every year is we have a special dinner with cabbage and corn beef. It's not anything to fancy but it's our little tradition. 

-Gwyn 

                                      St. Patrick's Day

                                                   by: Sydney Healy

It is normal to think that St. Patrick's Day is just a day where you wear green, but really there is a history behind it. St. Patrick wasn't actually Irish but was known to bring Christianity to the Irish people by teaching them with a shamrock. When he was 16 years old he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland to be an slave but then later escaped. He soon came back and that's when he brought Christianity to the Irish. It is believed he died on March 17.  That's why we celebrate St. Patrick's day every year, to celebrate a great leader.

 Little Leprechauns and Green Clothes

          St. Patric's Day is a day celebrating the Irish cultures and a certain bishop that lived in Ireland around 385 A.D. And you won't believe his name. Well if you haven't figured it out yet it was Saint Patric! According to Wikipedia. "He was born in Ireland in 385 AD into a very wealthy family, but he was kidnapped by a band of Irish raiders at the age of sixteen. After six years it was said he got a vision to go to the coast were a boat was waiting there for him to take him home. After he got home by boat he became a priest and was credited with bringing Christianity to the people of Ireland as well as many other things."

          The first Saint Patric's Day took place in Ireland shortly after the death of St. Patric, but the St. Patric's parade wasn't a festivity of Ireland's until the the 20th century. Which is really weird because North America Celebrated St. Patric's Day with a parade even before the Irish did. Starting in the 18th century. St. Patric's Day was celebrated in Ireland in many other ways (besides the parade). One was by wearing the color green and or a green shamrock ( a clover ). But a strange tradition that I have found is that even though the holiday was about respecting St. Patric a priest from Ireland and celebrated by many Christians across Europe. On this specific holiday Christian leaders would let the people of Ireland and others to break the rule about the consumption or drinking of ale and alcohol. Another of the festivities of St. Patric's day was to have a feast similar to Thanksgiving just with different food one of the main dishes is Corned Beef and Cabbage and the beverages they usually drank were alcohol and or ale as it said in the sentence before. But during the toast while the feast occurred people would put a shamrock into their alcohol and drink it and if they didn't swallow the clover they would throw it over their left shoulder and this would be a act that would bring them luck.

         Now I know what you are going to say next. How does the Leprechauns fit into the big picture? Well leprechauns are mythical creature from Irish folklore. They are depicted as a mischievous little men that are dressed in green, has a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and if you catch this creature he will give you three wishes in exchange for his freedom similar to a genie. But a cool thing I read about is that Leprechauns used to not be depicted wearing a green suit they used to wear a red suit instead! St. Patric's Day is a very awesome holiday and it was cool to learn of it's traditions and history. It is a very well known holiday, and now I know a little more about why it is so well known what it's festivities are, and it's history rich. And might I say it is a very cool holiday!

-Phoenix Oliver

            We all celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, usually by dressing up, wearing green, and pinching those who don't, but have you ever wondered the real history of the iconic holiday? The website www.history.com states that the holiday honors Ireland's patron saint and national apostle, Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century. He was actually born in Roman Britain, but was captured into slavery and brought to Ireland at the young age of 16. He eventually escaped, but he later returned and with him he brought Christianity. One of the most well known legends is that he actually explained the Holy Trinity with the native shamrock clover, forever associating it with his name, and eventually the holiday. His death was believed to be on March 17, says www.history.com. Starting around the ninth or 10th century, the people in Ireland held a feast in Saint Patrick's name on March 17th, but the first parade was actually in New York City, 1762, marched by Irish soldiers in the English Military. From there on out, Saint Patrick's Day celebrations grew and became more common and popular until we got the famous holiday we have today.

                By Janessa Wilding