I was surprised to find I’ve never done a St. Patrick’s Day blog. So let’s share a wee bit ‘o history and decorations.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain, kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery at age 16. He was forced to tend sheep for his master Milchu, an Irish pagan Druid high priest. Over time, Patrick believed his enslavement to be a test of his Christian faith.
He managed to escape after six years, but eventually returned to Ireland to spread Christianity. In his honor, the Irish have celebrated his death (believed to be March 17, 461) for over a thousand years.
Irish tradition was for families to attend church and celebrate. On this one day during the somber season of Lent, prohibitions against eating meat were waived. The people danced, drank and feasted on bacon and cabbage.
How did the shamrock become associated with the holiday? Legend has it St. Patrick used the three leaves of native Irish clover to explain the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
America and St. Patrick’s Day became forever intertwined with the first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade, organized by Irish vicar Ricardo Artur in St. Augustine, Florida on March 17, 1601.
In 1772, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in New York City to honor their patron saint. Enthusiasm for St. Patrick’s Day parades grew from there. This St. Patty’s Day, over 1,000 parades will stream down American streets.
Until around 1850, American Irish immigrants were generally middle-class Protestants. That changed when the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland and nearly a million poor, uneducated Irish Catholics emigrated to escape starvation.
Persecuted for their religious beliefs and strange accents, immigrants struggled to make a living. They were often portrayed as drunks and even violent monkeys in cartoons of the day. Soon, American Irish realized their growing numbers gave them previously unimagined political power. St. Patrick’s Day parades served as a rallying event displaying the clout of Irish Americans and became a must-attend for politicians.
Only in the United States do people wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.
While St. Patrick’s Day gained traction in the U.S, it remained a spiritual and religious holiday in Ireland. Irish laws mandated pubs be closed on March 17 until as late as 1970. By 1995, the Irish government began to use the day to promote tourism and share Irish culture worldwide.
We can’t end our look at St. Patrick’s Day without mentioning leprechauns. Belief in the “small-bodied fellows” likely stems from the Celtic belief in fairies, tiny people who used magic to serve both good and evil while protecting their fabled treasure. The Celts believed them to be generally cranky beings, responsible for mending other fairy’s shoes. In Ireland, Leprechauns have their own holiday on May 13.
Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to de-cluttering. Well, maybe less de-cluttering and more downsizing my stuff. Just thinking, no action so far. A lot of my treasures are holiday-related. Then I saw this post on the internet and I’m rethinking my plan of action.
I always considered my holiday and table decorations as art—of course I need raw materials for family and friend gatherings. So while I definitely should get rid of things, I plan to be judicious about holiday items. I’ll share a few St. Patty’s Day vignettes.
Before I decorated this year, I gathered together everything vaguely Irish, green dishes, lace, linen and crystal. This is my coffee table. See those kissing Leprechauns on the green plate? Probably 50 years ago, I was shopping in a little store in Toluca Lake and accidentally dropped the boy. Back in those days, you broke it, you bought it, which devastated my young housekeeper budget. But that pair became one of my favorite decorations. You have to look closely to see the boy was ever broken.
I got a kick out of my own St. Patrick’s Day poem so I immortalized it in embroidery.
Here’s another of my favorites, the guys’ heads bobble. That picture is a framed greeting card.
A festive mantle is always part of my décor.
The porch became a new decorative area this year. The lace on the pillow is especially dear to me. I got it out of my mom’s stash of sewing notions when I was a little girl and used some of it to make dresses for my trolls—you know, dam dolls, remember those? You can get a look at Blanche and Ozzie here: Obsession.
Here’s a closeup of the lace. I had such a small piece left, I never thought I’d find a way to use it!
Let’s end with a darling piece of artwork I found, artist unknown.
Aren’t they so cute, dressed in green for the holiday? They make me smile!
Wishing you a fun and fabulous St. Patty’s Day!