Hello In Stitches Family! Have you ever googled a question and then went down a rabbit hole? Am I the only one? I am. Oh well. Let me share with you what I learned about St. Patrick’s Day!
I was thinking to myself, “Self, why DO we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?” So I did what we do nowadays (instead of looking in the encyclopedia – did I just date myself?), I googled it. Want to hear about what I learned? Of course you do!
First of all, who was St. Patrick? He was a 5th century monk who is credited for bringing Christianity to Ireland. So, Irish people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the day of his death in the fifth century.
In the Catholic religion, St. Patrick’s Day falls during lent. Lent it when you traditionally give up meat as you prepare for Easter. (In modern day, other things are given up besides just meat.) But, on St. Patrick’s Day, those prohibitions are waived so you can eat (or drink) whatever you want and dance and celebrate.
So, where does the clover come from? It is said that St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity by using the native Irish clover or shamrock.
There are now hundreds of St. Patrick’s Day parades around the world on March 17th, but the first parade wasn’t in Ireland at all! It was in St. Augustine, Florida in 1601. At the time, what we now call Florida was a Spanish colony.
Another funny thing I learned in the rabbit hole that is the internet is the story of the first time Chicago turned the Chicago River green. Back in 1962, city-pollution control workers were using dye in the river to trace illegal sewage dumps and when they saw how green it turned the water, the idea to do it on St. Patrick’s Day began! The first year, they dumped 100 lbs of green vegetable dye into the river and it kept the water green for a week! Nowadays, they only dump 40 lbs in, because of environmental concerns, so it only keeps the water green for a few hours.
And the last thing I wondered was, why green? Boy, that was something completely different! Apparently, long ago, the official color of Ireland was blue. They had a blue flag and everything. But over the years, as different groups have taken power, the green that we think of as representing Ireland has come to be. I doubt this is going to change any time soon since the green has taken hold of everything Irish, but time will only tell!
So, let’s wear green this St. Patrick’s Day! We can help you with that! We have a couple of tongue-in-cheek designs for you to choose from! (Remember: March 3rd is the last day to order)
We have the Shenanigans Shirt
The perfect shirt for a crazy day!
And we have our…
Here’s Wayne proclaiming that he Drinks well with Others!
Either of these shirts come in Kelly Green (light color) or Dark Green.
Do you see a design you need to make your St Patrick’s Day celebrations the best they can be? Just let us know!
Have a great week!
Mike and Wendy
In Stitches Embroidery and Patch, LLC