St. Patrick’s Day (A Day Late)

On tradition, Catholicism, and what we’re actually celebrating

Nothing says celebrating a Catholic holiday quite like rituals.

St. Patrick’s Day, at its core, is exactly that; a religious feast day. It marks the death of St. Patrick, a Romano-British missionary who became associated with the spread of Christianity in Ireland (Ó hÓgáin, Myth, Legend and Romance, 2006).

They said he drove the snakes out of Ireland- a metaphor for pushing the Paganism out of the nation.

That’s the official version.

But like most things tied to Irish history, what we celebrate today is layered, complicated, and not entirely what it seems on the surface.

Historically, March 17th was a Catholic feast day.

It sat within Lent, which was a period of fasting, and was one of the few days where restrictions were lifted (Duffy, Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes, 1997). That meant:

• food
• drink
• gathering

But it wasn’t originally loud. It wasn’t parades and green beer and crowded streets.

It was quiet. Observant. Religious.

Ireland itself did not widely celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with parades until much later; large public celebrations were first popularized in diaspora communities, particularly in North America (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016).

The version most of us know; especially in Canada and the United States; is shaped heavily by Irish diaspora.

Irish immigrants carried identity with them. And over time, St. Patrick’s Day became:

• a celebration of Irishness
• a way to be visible
• a way to take up space in places that weren’t always welcoming

Parades began in North America as early as the 18th century, before becoming common in Ireland itself (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016; Library of Congress, 2020).

Green became louder. Symbols became simplified. Identity became something to display rather than something quietly lived.

And eventually, it became what it is now:

A mix of heritage, celebration, stereotype, and community.

As someone who writes and practices within Irish tradition, St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t sit cleanly.

It’s not one of the old seasonal festivals.

It’s not rooted in agricultural rhythm.

It’s not part of the fire calendar (MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa, 1962).

It’s layered on top of all of that.

And yet; it still matters.

Living in Canada, St. Patrick’s Day feels less like a religious observance and more like a diasporic moment.

It’s a day where Irish identity becomes visible — even if imperfectly.

And I think there’s space to engage with that without:

• romanticizing it
• rejecting it entirely
• or pretending it’s something it isn’t

For me, that looks like something quieter.

Not a party. Not a performance.

Just acknowledgment.

I don’t treat St. Patrick’s Day like a ritual day.

I don’t build an altar or mark it like Imbolc or Samhain.

Instead, I:

• think about Irish history more directly
• acknowledge the reality of diaspora
• sit with what it means to inherit something complicated
• wear green
• light a candle
• spend time with my history

It’s less about celebration and more about awareness.

If this is being posted on March 18th, that feels fitting.

Because this isn’t really about catching the exact date.

It’s about stepping back from the noise of it and asking:

What are we actually participating in when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t ancient.

It isn’t a fire festival.

It isn’t a clean piece of tradition.

It’s a layered, evolving, diasporic day that carries religion, history, identity, and simplification all at once.

And maybe the most honest way to observe it is not to try and make it something else.

Just to see it clearly.

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May the Universe hold you in the hollow of her hand.

Go forward in good faith and may you have a great St. Patty's Day.

• Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition. Routledge, 2006.
• Duffy, Eamon. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, 1997.
• MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa. Oxford University Press, 1962.
• Smithsonian Magazine. “How St. Patrick’s Day Was Made in America.” 2016.
• Library of Congress. “St. Patrick’s Day: A Brief History.” 2020.