On March 17th we celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the USA, the memorial day of the Irish bishop "Patrick".
Why do we celebrate him and what do we do on this day? I'll explain in this video.
St. Patrick was born in Britain, even though his name is mostly associated with Ireland.
When he was 16 years old he was taken prisoner by Irish robbers
and stayed for six years in Ireland, where he had to work as a slave.
Some believe that the jail was in Mount Slemish in County Antrim,
but it is more likely that he was near Killala in County Mayo.
No matter where he was in jail, he eventually fled.
According to the legend, he supposedly walked 200 kilometers on foot to England.
There he became a priest and a few years later he was sent back to Ireland.
According to myth, he supposedly brought Christianity to Ireland.
According to another legend, the Holy Patrick of Ireland is supposedly responsible for the fact that there are no snakes in Ireland.
Since the 9th or 10th century people have celebrated the Festival of the Irish Bishop Patrick,
because he was a priest and later a bishop of the Catholic Church.
He converted many people to Christianity and was one of the first to do something like that in Ireland.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place on March 17, 1762 in the USA.
Nowadays we do a lot of strange things in the USA that actually have nothing to do with Patrick.
Everything is colored green, rivers, cakes, beer, cookies, and many other things.
Some people dress up as leprechauns, Irish elves.
They wear green hats and green clothes. Sometimes they even have a pot of gold with them.
They decorate almost everything with clover leaves.
We eat dishes that don't actually come from Ireland and many people drink more green-colored beer than they should.
Why is everything colored green?
A long time ago, the Irish associated the color blue with St. Patrick.
The color green was associated with Irish nationalism, the former wish for the independence of Ireland.
Why are clover leaves so important?
The three-leafed form of the clover leaf, which the Irish call "shamrocks", originally comes from Ireland.
St. Patrick supposedly taught the pagan Irish about the Holy Trinity with the clover leaf.
But, if the three-leafed form comes from Ireland
and St. Patrick used it as a symbol of the Holy Trinity,
why is the four-leafed form of the clover leaf supposed to mean good luck?
As I already said, the three-leafed version of the clover leaf comes from Ireland.
The four-leafed variety in Ireland is a rare mutation of the three-leafed version.
There are only one four-leafed clover leaf in every 10,000 three-leafed clover leaves.
Therefore they were used in Ireland as a good luck charm.
There is a plant that looks like a clover that has four leaves.
This is not a real clover. They are not related.
What is with the leprechauns?
A leprechaun is translated often in German speaking regions as "Kobold".
Leprechauns are little human-like creatures that are often associated with the hidden gold at the end of the rainbow.
They hide gold, but one can occasionally get a gold coin from them, if you help them in some way.
What do they have to do with St. Patrick?
Nothing at all. They are simply a symbol from Ireland.
Luck of the Irish? How do the Irish have luck?
Why do we say in English "the luck of the Irish"?
Many Irish in the USA were miners in the 19th century.
When they found some gold or silver, they had "the luck of the Irish".
Although this saying has a positive meaning nowadays, originally it meant that they had more luck than brains.
A traditional dish on this day is corned beef and cabbage, but the Irish don't eat this at all.
They eat cabbage, but corned beef and cabbage together originates from the USA.
The Irish liked to eat bacon,
but after they immigrated to the USA, bacon was too expensive for them.
Therefore they ate corned beef.
There is no corned beef and cabbage on an Irish menu.
The name "Antrim" comes from Northern Ireland.
There is County Antrim and the city Antrim.
Around the city of Antrim in County Antrim, there used to be Castle Antrim,
but it was torn down in 1970 after a fire.
Today there is only a tower, a gatehouse, and the castle garden, which one can visit.
What do I do for St. Patrick's Day?
I wear a green shirt and I say that I'm Irish.
I don't do anything more.
I don't like the taste of Guinness, I prefer to drink Sam Adams, Berliner Kindl, Bitburger, or Warsteiner.
Why should I color my beer green? I don't need a good luck charm or a talisman.
I am not Catholic. My city doesn't have a St. Patrick's Day parade.
My wife and daughter don't eat corned beef or cabbage and it would be silly to make that just for me.
I wear a green shirt and I say that I am Irish.
That is all for today. Thanks for watching. Until next time. Bye.