Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated annually on
17 March, the death date of the most commonly-recognized
patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461).
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of
Christianity in Ireland as well as celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the
wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services, and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.
Saint Patrick's Day is a
public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland,
Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the
Irish diaspora around the world; especially in Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Patrick is said to have used the
shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. This story first appears in writing in 1726, though it may be older. In pagan Ireland, three was a significant number and the Irish had many triple deities.The triple spiral symbol appears at many ancient megalithic sites in Ireland.
The color green has been associated with Ireland since at least the 1640s, when the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on St Patrick's Day since at least the 1680s. Green was adopted as the colour of the Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish fraternity founded in about 1750.
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