Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Ireland Versus the United States
Here in the United States, St. Patrick's Day is a holiday set aside for partying "like an Irishman," but in Ireland, the actual Irish people don't see it quite in the same way that we do. Savage Scorpions did a little research and found a few differences in the ways each country chooses to celebrate. The Reason to Celebrate In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday in honor of the country's patron saint. In reality, St. Patrick wasn't even Irish but instead, British. He was kidnapped at the age of 16 and brought to Ireland as a slave. He later escaped back to his home but returned to Ireland after becoming a priest to bring the Catholic religion to the country that enslaved him. In the United States, we observe St. Patrick's Day as a time to celebrate Irish heritage. Long ago when Irish immigrants made their way to mostly Protestant America, they observed March 17 as a way to remember and honor their homeland and its patron saint. ...