Saint Patrick

• St. Patrick's Day began as a Catholic celebration in honor of the Irish Saint, Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick lived between 387 and 461 A.D. He lived as a kidnapped slave in Ireland until he fled to Britain in where he became a priest. After he returned to Ireland, Irish Folklore says that for 30 years he used shamrocks to explain the holy trinity to his Irish parishioners.
  
  

Catholic Church

• Saint Patrick's Day was added to the Catholic Church's liturgical calendar in the 1600s because of the growing influence of Irish people on the church. The secular celebration was recognized formally by the Bank Holiday Act of 1903 in Ireland that made St. Patrick's Day an official holiday. The first official parade was held in Dublin Ireland in 1931. However, Boston is the home of the first recorded St. Patrick's Day gathering in 1737.
  
  

America

• Irish immigrants came to America in search for better lives. In the book Irish in America, Margaret J. Goldstein says in Ireland they "suffered from poor sanitation, outbreaks of disease, malnutrition and inadequate healthcare." However, in America, immigrant workers were unhappy about how they were being treated. On March 17, 1737 and organized group of Irishmen paraded through the streets of Boston to make a political statement against there treatment.
  
  

Food

• Corned beef and cabbage is one of the most prepared meals for St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The corned beef is often boiled for more than two hours and seasoned with spices, onions, potatoes and carrots. The cabbage is added during the final cooking stages. Shepherd's pie is the most widely chosen dessert. It's made with boiled potatoes, sour cream, egg yolk and various other ingredients.
  
  

Fun Facts

• Since 1962, the city of Chicago dyes its river green. The idea came from sewer workers who have been using the dye for checking for sewer discharges. If you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day people can pinch you. The city of Seattle paints the stripes of the streets in which parade participants will travel green. In the book, Lets Celebrate St Patricks Day, Peter Roop says that In March 17, 1780, General George Washington Irish soldiers the day off.