Look around everything is green from donuts and clothing to the Chicago River, which can only mean one thing. St. Patrick’s Day is upon us.
Irish pubs will be packed on Sunday as Americans gather to drink green beer. While people have already agreed on what color to wear they can’t seem to agree on the holiday’s proper abbreviation.
Much like the pronunciation of Nevada there has long been confusion on whether it’s St. Paddy’s Day or St. Patty’s Day. You don’t need look for the answer at the end of the rainbow we got you covered.
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It’s St. Paddy’s, not St. Patty’s
St. Paddy’s Day is the correct abbreviation of the holiday, not St. Patty’s. This is largely due the holiday commemorating the Christian saint who brought Christianity to Ireland and is believed to have died on March 17, 461.
The saint’s Irish Gaelic name is Pádraig, which is Patrick in English. The proper nickname for Pádraig is Paddy.
When did St. Patrick’s Day become a holiday?
Saint Patrick’s became an official holiday in Ireland in 1903 after Irish MP James O’Mara’s Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act passed in the United Kingdom, according to History.com. The Irish have celebrated St. Paddy’s for over a thousand years.
“On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage,” the history site wrote.
Who Was St. Patrick?
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland who lived in the fifth century and was born in Roman Britain.
When he was 16 he was kidnapped brought to Ireland as a slave but eventually escaped and brought Christianity to Ireland, according to History.com. He is also believed to have explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a shamrock, a native Irish clover.
