Irish Collectors Celebrate St. Patrick

For over a thousand years, March 17th has been observed by the Irish as St. Patrick’s Day. Today, ARTKABINETT art collector network celebrates this festival with a special featured video of the green Chicago river and accompanying Facebook post. It is a religious holiday that marks the feast of St. Patrick and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century.

The leprechaun always seems to pop up for St. Patrick’s Day as its poster-boy, when in fact, he has no affiliation with the original tradition of the holiday at all.

According to Irish folklore, the leprechaun is an ill-tempered, grouchy little man who enjoys participating in mischief. Who would want symbolize such a creature?

The St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun is a figure brought to life, in 1959, by an American named Walt Disney in his film titled, Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Disney’s happy go lucky leprechaun was a far cry from the ill-tempered Irish folklore one.

The Irish loved the friendly American leprechaun so much, they allowed him to become a symbol of both St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland.

A quick stop at the Catholic.org website gives a brief rundown of St. Patrick's life. Many people may have though Patrick was Irish, but actually he was born in what is now Scotland on the island of Britain in the late 4th century A.D. When he was a teen, he was kidnapped and forced into slave labor to shepherd sheep in Ireland, a primitive island at the time full of Druids and pagans. But Patrick's faith only strengthened his resolve in God and finally, at the age of 20, he was able to escape back to Britain.

He had a dream and felt called back to the island he was enslaved on for the sake of the people with whom he bonded while being captured. So he studied to become a priest and was ordained, learning under a more senior priest for several years before becoming a bishop and being sent back to Ireland.

Legends abound about his time in the country, from a tribal chief whom he converted to Christianity after the chief couldn't raise his arm to strike Patrick until he became peaceful to his banishment of all snakes from the island.

What he did do without question is spread the Word of God from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher. Two famous cathedrals built in St. Patrick's name, one in New York and one in Dublin, attract thousands of parishioners a year and are some of the most beautiful pieces of Catholic architecture around.

As for the shamrocks? Legend has it that the national symbol of Ireland was a simple way for Patrick and his disciples to describe the holy trinity to countrymen. The shamrock has three leafs but is still one piece, just like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And as for March 17? That's the recognized date that St. Patrick supposedly died. The day was set aside as a feast to honor the patron saint, and both his legend and festivities grew over the centuries, eventually migrating to the United States and being really embraced by the roughly 1 million Irish who immigrated during the Irish Potato famine in the 1840s.

So, while sipping an Irish stout, crunching a shamrock cookie or pinching your co-worker who forgot to wear green, take a minute to think about the man who started it all.

Then raise a glass in his honor and let loose a throaty “Erin go bragh!”