Tonight's post is going to focus on one of my favorite holidays of the year — St. Patrick's Day. I know I'm a day late, but with last night's festivities I didn't have time to post.
I was inspired to blog on this subject by a note I read on Facebook yesterday, from a girl who was trying to correct some of the myths of St. Patrick's Day. She actually argued that it was unlucky and contradictory to wear green! I couldn't believe it, but after a little hard work and googling, I found that she was right.
According to a 2005 article by National Geographic:
"Irish brigands kidnapped St. Patrick at 16 and brought him to Ireland. He was sold as a slave in the county of Antrim and served in bondage for six years until he escaped to Gaul, in present-day France. He later returned to his parents' home in Britain, where he had a vision that he would preach to the Irish. After 14 years of study, Patrick returned to Ireland, where he built churches and spread the Christian faith for some 30 years...In the United States, it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky, says Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site."
So there you have it. I hope the knowledge doesn't keep you up at night. Or keep you from drinking a green beer next year.
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