Every year on March 17, the streets of cities are filled with fun, crowds of people walk in pubs in green, and the rivers (literally!) turn emerald. St. Patrick's Day has long crossed the borders of Ireland and become an international symbol of joy, music and traditional booze. The Ukrainian News agency has found out where this holiday came from, why it is celebrated even there where leprechauns have never been, and how it affects the economy of Ireland.
The traditions of this holiday have even more legends than its history. For example, noisy parties in pubs with live music and hundreds of liters of green and not only booze drunk. After all, drinking it on this day began only in the early 90s. Before that, on March 20, pubs were closed so that people would drink less.
But not only green beer is traditional. For lovers of stronger drinks, the so-called Patrick's glass was invented. This is a kind of unit of measurement of the amount drunk. Before drinking the contents, you need to put a clover leaf in the glass.
Usually, on this day, everyone wears green. This is one of the colors of the Irish flag: the color of the shamrock and Ireland itself, which is called the emerald island. The most common symbols of this holiday around the world are leprechauns and clover. At the same time, the shamrock does not have official status. You will not see its image on coins, banknotes, or even stamps. There is a legend that it was with the help of this plant that Saint Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to the Irish.
Traditional small leprechauns with a box of gold are characters of Irish folklore who are able to fulfill the wishes of those who can catch them. Usually, a leprechaun is depicted as a red-bearded man, the height of a child. He has a bad temper and knows where the treasures are hidden.
By the way, the holiday turns out to be very commercially profitable for the country, because millions of guests from different countries come to Ireland on the green day every year, which has a positive effect on the economy. On average, St. Patrick's Day brings about EUR 100 million to the treasury.
Those who primarily celebrate this day as a religious Christian holiday go to cathedrals to honor the saint. The most famous place dedicated to St. Patrick is the Cathedral in Dublin, which is considered the largest temple in Ireland. In this religious building, knighthood ceremonies were held, the order of which was also named in honor of St. Patrick. Even one of the most interesting architectural monuments in New York was built in honor of the Irish saint. One of the greatest examples of neo-Gothic architecture is New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral, the first stone of which was laid in 1856; it is visited by millions of tourists every year. After all, it amazes with its beauty and grandeur.
In Ukraine, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated unofficially, but Irish culture has spread very well throughout the country. Therefore, every Irish pub and restaurant organizes parties on March 17.
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