St Patrick's Day
Next: March 17, 2027
Wear a little green.
The story
Where it comes from
St Patrick's Day honours Ireland's patron saint. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, was kidnapped by Irish pirates as a teenager and spent years enslaved in Ireland, where he tended animals and learned the language. After escaping and training as a priest, he returned to bring Christianity to Ireland, and tradition says he used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. Long a religious feast day, it has become a celebration of Irish culture, history and music, at home and across the Irish diaspora.
How it's celebrated
Ireland keeps a public holiday. Dublin holds a festival over several days, with a parade watched by around half a million people, and Cork, Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny and Dingle have their own. People wear green or a sprig of shamrock, play and dance to traditional music, and cook Irish stew, soda bread or bacon and cabbage. Abroad, Irish communities hold parades, and famous landmarks are lit green for the night.
Did you know
- The parade began with Irish emigrants in America: one of the first recorded was in New York City in 1762, and Ireland's first was in Waterford in 1903.
- The oldest and biggest St Patrick's Day parade in Asia is held in Tokyo.
- Since 2010 more than 300 landmarks in 50 countries have gone green for the day, from the Colosseum to the Great Wall of China.
The greeting
Happy St Patrick's Day · Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit
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