Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Ireland
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One of our biggest holidays of the year happens in March, which is St. Patrick's Day. Um, in the past it was primarily a religious holiday. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and it's believed that he was the first person to bring Christianity to Ireland.
Nowadays, it's not just a religious holiday, it's also the day we celebrate everything connected to Irish culture. It's to celebrate our history, our mythology, our music. Um, also the week around St. Patrick's Day is now called Seachtain na Gaeilge, or Irish Week. And during this time there are lots of different events to try and promote the use of our native language, which is Gaeilge. Some of the things we do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day include wearing shamrocks on our clothes. We don't really wear green clothes - that's not one of our traditions - but the wearing of shamrocks is very common. Shamrocks are a three-leaf plant connected to Saint Patrick.
We're also, uh, famous for our St. Patrick's Day parades, particularly the one in Dublin. We have parades in every town and city in the country on St.
Patrick's Day, as it's a public holiday, but the one in Dublin is the main event.
Vocabulary:
Patron saint - A saint the represents a city or country or job.
Mythology - a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition.
Shamrock - a green plant with 3 leaves that is the symbol of Ireland
Parade - a public procession, especially one celebrating a special day or event
