Celtic Corner - February 2013

CELTIC CORNER:

St.Patrick’s Day is just ahead of us, so who is St.Patrick and what is all the hype about?

St.Patrick’s Day (La Fheile Padraig) is first a religious holiday celebrated on March 17^th. He is also the most commonly recognized saint in Ireland. This day is also celebrated all over the world.

Historians say Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 4^th century into a wealthy Romano British Family. Patrick’s father & grandfather were Deacons in the church. Patrick was kidnapped at the age of 16 by Irish Raiders. He was held captive in Northern Ireland as a slave. Pat escaped fleeing to the coast, boarding a ship, he returned to Britain. Patrick felt that God wanted him to return to Ireland, so he studied to be a priest then became a bishop and in the year 432 he returned to Ireland. His mission was to Christianize the Irish from their native Polytheism. Patrick used many props in his teaching methods such as; to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity he used the shamrock. After 40 years of teaching, he died on March 17^th in the year 470. There were many other missions from Rome to Ireland but Patrick endured as the principle champion of Irish Christianity.

Shortly before his death in Ireland in about 461 A.D. Patrick climbed to the peak of one of Ireland’s highest mountains from where he blessed all the people of the country. Today he is Ireland’s patron saint, and the mountain he climbed (Croaghpatrick) is named after him. Saint Patrick was buried in Downpatrick, which was a great European shrine until its destruction by the English government in 1539.

 St.Patrick created this great faith in the Irish people. I would guess God gave him insight into the struggles that this great Celtic Nation would have to endure. The Irish always managing to keep their faith, were persecuted, jailed, hung, starved, kicked off their land and out of their country. So goes the old Irish Saying “Keep the Faith”. Whether it was the Irish that stayed in their own Ireland or were forced to Immigrate to other countries, they were united & proud. The Irish first marched in Boston on March 18, 1737. This was the first Irish Parade in the world. New York’s Parade was March 17, 1762, Ireland’s first parade was 1931 in Dublin, and New Jersey’s first parade was 1936 in Newark. So why did we march? We did it not just for the religious aspect of the day or the fun of the day, but we also marched in remembrance of the tough days. The many Bloody Sundays gone by and the injustices still taking place in Ireland & the rest of the world today. In the early days, unity got us jobs, acceptance, Political & Labor positions and don’t forget the Irish were decorated with more U.S. Medals of honor than any other country in the world. In recent years our proud tradition of marching lost a little spark. .In these days of our diverse nation, let us show that this Celtic Nation is alive & well in Woodbridge. Let’s get back to the old tradition, March behind our Grand Marshall, Ed Mullen, Irishman of the year, Frank Darcy & Irish woman of the year, Claire Miloscia,

Correspondence Secretary                                                                                     Frank Darcy