Patron
Saints deserve a very special celebration and where better to be on St.
Patrick's day than in Ireland? While the world may celebrate the feast
of St.
Patrick, there's only one truly green corner of the globe and there are
so many
highlights to Dublin's St. Patrick's Festival, it takes almost a week
to fit
them all in! There are street parties, exhibitions, a fairytale
funfair, a
Ceili, the awesome Skyfest fireworks display, a treasure hunt and of
course,
the world famous parade. Face painters, fire eaters, street performers
and
outdoor concerts make up the spectacular program which will really
guarantee
you have the time of your life. For further details log on to: www.stpatricksfestival.ie
Saint
Patrick's Day (March 17th) is an Irish holiday
honoring Saint Patrick, the missionary credited with converting the
Irish to
Christianity (in A.D. 400). Saint Patrick was not actually Irish.
Historical
sources report that he was born around 373 A.D. in either Scotland or
in Roman
Britain. His real name is believed to have been Maewyn Succat. He was
kidnapped
at the age of 16 by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. During
his 6-year
captivity, he began to have religious visions, and found strength and
in his
faith. He finally escaped and went to France, where he became a priest
and
later a bishop.
When he
was about 60 years old, St.
Patrick traveled to Ireland to spread the Christian word. It's said
that
Patrick had an unusually winning personality that helped him win
converts. He
used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, as a metaphor
to
explain the concept of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Legend
has it
that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland - that they all
went
into the sea and drowned.
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