17
Mar
Paddy’s Day 2019
St Patrick manages to unite millions of people all over the world for celebrations. Even those who hardly have any faith in him, put their effort and time into the event. People celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking Guinness or any type of booze available.
It has been a public holiday in Ireland since 1903 when the first parade was held in Waterford that year.
While the festivities start on 16th March in London, the parade culminates in a performance on Sunday.
It begins in Hyde Park Corner at 12:00 and goes through Haymarket before finishing at Trafalgar Square at 18:00.
The procession features floats, marching bands and groups of Irish dancers. It is entirely free to attend and a ticket is not mandatory.
Later tonight, an Irish Film Festival will be held at Regent Street Cinema from 18:30. The Four Men And A Dog concert will be performed at the Irish Cultural Centre at 19:30.
The St Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the very first year the Day was publicly celebrated in Boston. 25 years later Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City during the St Patrick’s Day parade on 17th March 1762.
New York City has a large Irish community that widely celebrates the biggest Irish holiday. Back in the 18th century wearing green, speaking Irish and singing Irish songs was banned. Despite of the situation, homesick Irish patriots and military members dared to organise the St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Since then the Parade annually marches along the 5th Avenue past St Patrick’s Cathedral and turns the streets green.
Several other St Patrick’s Day events, like stand-up comedy shows, dance parties and concerts take place in the city.
New Zealand is proud to offer the first St Patrick's Parade in the world in Auckland that starts at 12:00 on Queen Street (between Wakefield Street and Mayoral Drive) and lasts for about an hour.
The only parade in the Southern Hemisphere will be followed by Hugh Green Group Irish Music and Dance Festival, which will be held at 12:30-15:30 near Aotea Square, featuring Sean Kelly and The Celtic Flyers, Rough Town, the Connolly School of Irish Dance, the Doyle Academy of Irish Dance, kids’ rides, face painting and much more.
St Patrick remains somewhat a mystery up to these days. Some scholars insist that the man who was to become the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales in about 385 AD and his given name was Maewyn. Others believe that apostle of Ireland was born in Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in 387 AD.
Despite the place of his birth, St Patrick’s Day is celebrated in the United States and England far wider than in any other place.
The person who has later become known as St Patrick, was born in Britain to wealthy parents Calpurnius and Conchessa near the end of the fourth century. Calpurnius belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the position of Christian deacon either in Gaul, or Britain. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St Martin of Tours.
St Patrick’s mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. Then he retired to County Down. He is believed to have died on 17th March, around 460 AD. However, the exact year he has passed away is a mystery, just like his birth date. Some sources say he died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, in 493 AD. His remains were wrapped in the shroud woven by St Brigid’s own hands. At least the exact day of his death is known and thus, 17th March is commemorated as St Patrick’s Day.
Allresipes.com presents St Patrick’s Day main dish recipes on their website: apple and brown sugar corned beef, baked corned beef and cabbage, Guinness Irish beef stew, chef John’s Irish pork stew, Irish lamb stew, sausage coddle, steak and Irish stout pie, Irish chicken and dumplings, the Humble Shepherd, Irish shepherd’s pie, Irish steaks, St Patrick’s colcannon, Irish breakfast, and Irish boiled dinner.
Here is the must-have St Patrick’s Day recipe of Irish Guinness stew, the perfect meal for a chilly night:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds beef stew meat, cubed
3 cups Guinness
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
salt and ground black pepper
Preparation
Head the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent. This takes about five minutes.
Stir in the beef, beer, sliced and quartered potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and cover. Simmer for about 2 hours, until the beef is tender. Season with salt and black pepper before serving. Serve and enjoy with friends and family!
There are two more symbols that are strictly linked to St Patrick: the Shamrock and the Blarney Stone.
The Irish legend claims that St Patrick used the shamrock as a symbol of the church’s Holy Trinity because of its three leaflets bound by a common stalk.
The Blarney Stone is said to give the gift of eloquence to all who kiss it. According to a local legend, an old woman, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell to use the magic of the stone.
Whoever wants to try whether it works or not, has to get to the village of Blarney, which is northwest of the Irish village of Cork. There is the 90-foot-tall Blarney Castle built on a rock, above several caves in 1446. On the top story, just below the battlements on the parapet, is the famous Blarney Stone.
