St Patrick (Naomh Pádraig in Irish) is the Patron Saint of Ireland and his feast day is celebrated on 17th March, although there is some conjecture about his place of birth Kilpatrick, Scotland or Banwen, Wales. He was a Roman Britain born some time around the middle of the 4th century AD the son of Calphurnius and Conchessa, a high status Roman family. He was captured and taken to Ireland as a slave around the age of 16. After six years as a captive in Ireland, looking after pigs, he escaped back to Britain and it is said in a dream that he heard the voices of the Irish to return.
Two letters, judged to be authentic, were written by Patrick and describe his life in his own words. He became a bishop in Ireland and baptised thousands of people, ordained priests and converted the sons of Kings to Christianity. Much folklore has grown up around St Patrick and it is thought that the driving of snakes out of Ireland is to symbolise the driving out of paganism and replacing it with Christianity. The three leaved Shamrock is said to represent the Christian Trinity, preached by Patrick.
The celebration of St Patrick’s day is a worldwide event with New York being one of the more famous events. In fact the celebration of St Patrick in America goes back over 240 years and pre-dates being American!