What is celebrated on Saint Patrick?

The feast of Saint Patrick is well known. We have all seen the famous parade, with green as the main color and a lot of beer, in television series or movies. Even our neighborhood Irish pub throws a party full of shamrocks, leprechauns, and stout that day. But do you know what is celebrated and what relationship do they have with beer?

Who was Saint Patrick?

Actually, what is commemorated on this day is the death of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who died on March 17, 461.

We start with a fun fact: Saint Patrick was not Irish. But he became the patron saint of this island and one of the most important religious figures in its culture.

He was born in Great Britain, and legend has it that at the age of 16 he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave. He spent 6 years there, tending a herd and learning the Celtic culture and language, but managed to escape and reach France. There, already a priest, he had a vision in which the people of Ireland called him, and he returned to this region to convert its inhabitants to Christianity (who until then were pagans and polytheists).

It is also said that he expelled all the snakes from the island (although it seems that this is more a metaphor about the spread of Christianity than a real fact) and that he taught the Irish how to brew beer , which is why it is drunk in his honor on his day.

From religious celebration to beer festival

What initially started as a religious celebration turned into a very pagan celebration. Patrick's Day usually falls in the middle of Lent (the Christian period in which there are restrictions in preparation for Easter), but this day was a "free" day of food and drink. Perhaps it's one of the reasons the party became so popular.

Another reason is that at the beginning of the 19th century the Irish community emigrated to different countries, and this holiday became a moment of national pride, that is, a “I am Irish and I am proud ”. A very significant fact is that the first St. Patrick's parade was not in Ireland, but in the United States, in the 1840s, when thousands of Irish people came to the country.

This tradition spread throughout the world, and since 1996 a festival has been held in Dublin and other cities, which can last up to five days in the Irish capital.

Saint Patrick's Shamrock

If they asked you, would you know how to say typically Irish things? You can't miss the color green, the clover (green), the goblins (dressed in green) and a good beer... green. And these are the elements that you will find in a good St. Patrick's celebration.

The story of how the clover became the symbol of this holiday is quite curious. Saint Patrick, in his evangelizing stage, had to explain to the Irish pagans what the Holy Trinity was and, for this, he resorted to a three-leaf clover. This symbol used by the saint, ended up becoming that of an entire country, Ireland, and it is also green.

Another symbol of Saint Patrick's Day is the leprechaun, that elf from Celtic mythology, who is often seen with a fine pint in hand.

Green beer?

Yes, you read that right. Green beer. On March 17 it is typical to drink beer of this color. This may come from the practice of putting a clover in the drink for good luck, which would end up slightly tinting the beer.

It was also in the US that they began to drink totally green beers.The idea came to an Irish-American doctor in New York City in 1924: Dr Thomas Hayes Curtin, who unveiled his invention at a club in the Bronx.

To achieve that color, Dr. Curtin added a blue industrial dye (“Wash Blue”), to the beer and, if you remember the combinations of primary colors that we studied in school, blue + yellow = green. Thus the famous green beer was born. Negative point? Which was a bit toxic. Over time, these blue powders were replaced by food coloring.

Beers to celebrate Saint Patrick

At Beer Sapiens we don't strongly advise you to repeat this mixture at home. If you want to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day it's much easier: we have this pack of delicious black beers (that is to say, the style of Guinness, the beer quintessential Irish), such as La Ribera Robus Porter or Dawat Coffee, which will bring all the malty and roasted flavors of Ireland to your living room (without mixing with weird blue powders) .

To keep the Irish theme going, you can pair these beers with traditional dishes like roast chicken and guinness stew. Corned beef with cabbage is another recipe that goes great with this style of beer.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!