Today is St. Patrick’s Day. This big day was originally a Roman Catholic feast day for Ireland’s patron saint, Patrick and has been celebrated only in Ireland before the 1600s.
Now it has grown into a universal holiday from the 1700s onwards, all thanks to Irish immigrants holding St. Patrick’s Day parades in the US. The parades are the highlight of St. Patrick’s day and is actually a way for Irish people to show their dissatisfaction with their supposed low social status in America.
So what do people do on St. Patrick’s Day?
For starters, everyone wears green, since it is one of the colors in Ireland’s tri-color flag,as well as symbolizes spring, and the famous shamrock.
On St. Patrick’s Day, people gorge on some authentic Irish corned beef and cabbage.
Legend has it that St. Patrick’s revelers wear green because they think they become invisible to leprechauns, – who are fairy creatures who pinch anyone not wearing green and hence visible..
Back to St. Patrick’s Day 2010, in Belfast, a carnival started at 1200 GMT and is followed by a concert at Custom House Square, in UK today.
