Welcome to FabulousFusionFood's St Patrick's Day Recipes Page — This is a continuation of a series of pages on the history of certain occasions and the recipes associated with that occasion. This page details the story of St Patrick of Ireland, the origins of St Patrick's Day celebrations from it's inception in the 7th Century CE. Today, St Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland and a day of celebration in much of the former British Empire and the USA..

Here you will learn a little about St Patrick and his history, along with the history of St Patrick's Day. Also presented are typical recipes for a St Patrick's day menu, as well as variants, alternates and traditional Irish recipes. I hope you enjoy this page and will make use of the recipes for your own St Patrick's Day celebrations.

The historical information about St Patrick is given below and below that you will find all the St Patrick's Day related recipes on this site.

The History of St Patrick

Saint Patrick was a 5th century post-Roman Briton, initially kidnapped by Irish slavers who escaped, but subsequently returned to Ireland as a missionary. He is the patron saint of Ireland and his feast day is the 17th of March.

Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, 'the Day of the Festival of Patrick') is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated annually on 17 March (the day of St Patrick's death) and is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world; especially in Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

The History of St Patrick:

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Proto-Irish: *Qatrikias; Modern Irish: Pádraig; Cymric (Welsh): Padrig) was a fifth century post-Roman Briton living on the western fringes of Britain.

There are two surviving letters, in Latin, are generally accepted to have been written by St Patrick himself: these are the Declaration Confessio (Declaration) and the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus (Latin: Epistola). Historically, the Confessio is the most important of the two letters, as here St Patrick provides a brief account of his life and his mission (most other sources of detail are from untrustworthy hagiographies and annals written subsequent to St Patrick's life).

St Patrick's Early Life

Calpornius, Patrick's father, was a deacon, his grandfather Potitus a priest, from Banna Venta Berniae — a location otherwise unknown, though it is identified in one tradition as Glannoventa, modern Ravenglass in Cumbria, England (but has also been proposed on the southern Severn river); claims have also been advanced for locations in both Scotland (Strathclyde) and Wales (Ynys Môn [Anglesey]). According to the Confessions, he was captured by Irish pirates at the age of sixteen where he was transported to Ireland. There he was held in captivity for six years and was forced to work as a shepherd. During this time he strengthened his relationship with God through prayer eventually leading him to convert to Christianity.

After six years of captivity Patrick heard a voice telling him that he would soon go home, and that that his ship was ready. Fleeing his master, he travelled to a port, two hundred miles away, where he found a ship and, with some difficulty, persuaded the captain to take him aboard. After three days' voyage they landed in Britain, and he led the ship's company on a 28-day trek in a 'wilderness', becoming faint from hunger before they encountered a herd of wild boar. Since this was shortly after Patrick had urged the company to put their faith in God, his prestige within the group was greatly increased. After various adventures, he returned home to his family, now in his early twenties.

After returning home to Britain, Saint Patrick continued to study Christianity, and eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He recounts that the reason for his return was due to a letter given to him by a man called Victoricus:

I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: 'The Voice of the Irish'. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: 'We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us'.

From the evidence in the Confessio we have some evidence of Patrick's mission in Ireland: he 'baptised thousands of people'. He ordained priests to lead the new Christian communities. He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition. He also dealt with the sons of kings, converting them too.

Much of the remainder of the Confessio concerns charges made against St. Patrick by his fellow Christians at a trial. What these charges were, he does not say explicitly, but he writes that he returned the gifts which wealthy women gave him, did not accept payment for baptisms, nor for ordaining priests, and indeed paid for many gifts to kings and judges, and paid for the sons of chiefs to accompany him. It is concluded, therefore, that he was accused of some sort of financial impropriety, and perhaps of having obtained his bishopric in Ireland with personal gain in mind.

Later Writings

The earliest secondary source for St Patrick comes from the writings of Cummian (it is uncertain whether this is the Cummian associated with Clonfert or Cumméne of Iona) on the Easter controversy in 632 or 633, where he refers to St Patrick, calling him our papa (ie pope or primate).

Two works by late seventh-century hagiographers of Patrick have survived. These are the writings of Tírechán, and Vita sancti Patricii of Muirchu moccu Machtheni. Both writers relied upon an earlier work, now lost, the Book of Ultán. This Ultán, probably the same person as Ultan of Ardbraccan, was Tírechán's foster-father. His obituary is given in the Annals of Ulster under the year 657. These works thus date from a century and a half after Patrick's death.

Tírechán writes:

'I found four names for Patrick written in the book of Ultán, bishop of the tribe of Conchobar: holy Magonus (that is, 'famous'); Succetus (that is, the god of war); Patricius (that is, father of the citizens); Cothirtiacus (because he served four houses of druids).'

Muirchu records much the same information, adding that '[h]is mother was named Concessa.' The name Cothirtiacus, however, is simply the Latinized form of Old Irish Cothraige, which is the Q-Celtic form of Latin Patricius.

The Patrick portrayed by Tírechán and Muirchu is a martial figure, who contests with druids, overthrows pagan idols, and curses kings and kingdoms. The martial Patrick found in Tírechán and Muirchu, and in later accounts, echoes similar figures found during the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. It may be doubted whether such accounts are an accurate representation of Patrick's time, although such violent events may well have occurred as Christians gained in strength and numbers.

St. Patrick is said to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has never been proven. Saint Patrick Visitor Centre is a modern exhibition complex located in Downpatrick and is a permanent interpretative exhibition centre featuring interactive displays on the life and story of Saint Patrick. It provides the only permanent exhibition centre in the world devoted to Saint Patrick. However, burial-place of Patrick, like other incidents connected with him, has been a matter of doubt and discussion. The doubt arises from the contradictory notices in the Book of Armagh. These notices appear in one place to favour the claim of Downpatrick to the burial-place; in a second place, the claim of Saul quite convenient to it; and in a third place, the claim of Armagh. The value of each of these notices is not the same, but depends on the intrinsic evidence of the statement, as well as on the bias and intelligence of the writer, and on the age to which he belonged.

Legends About St Patrick

The Shamrock
Legend credits St. Patrick with teaching the Irish about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a three-leafed plant, using it to illustrate the Christian teaching of three persons in one God. For this reason, shamrocks are a central symbol for St Patrick's Day. Though the tale seems to originate from the 1720s, however trefoils have ancient symbolism in Celtic culture and many deities had triple aspects.

Banishing the Snakes from Ireland
The absence of snakes in Ireland has led to the just-so story that all serpents were banished from the island by Patrick who chased them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. In truth, snakes never re-colonized the island after the ice age. Because of his association with snakes, St. Patrick is associated with the deity Damballa in Voodoo.

St. Patrick's Walking Stick Grows Into a Living Tree
During his evangelising journey back to Ireland from his parent's home in Britain, Patrick is understood to have carried with him an ash wood walking stick or staff. He thrust this stick into the ground wherever he was evangelising and at the place now known as Aspatria (ash of Patrick) the message of the dogma took so long to get through to the people there that the stick had taken root by the time he was ready to move on.

St Patrick's Symbols

St Patrick's crosses
There are two main types of crosses associated with St. Patrick, the cross pattée and the saltire. The cross pattée (or 'cross patty', known also as 'cross formée/formy') is a type of cross which has arms narrow at the centre, and broader at the perimeter. This is the more traditional association and is in truth the Celtic-style cross with the absence of the solar disc. St. Patrick is traditionally portrayed in the vestments of a bishop, and his mitre and garments are often decorated with a cross pattée. Saint Patrick's Saltire is a red saltire on a white field. It is used in the insignia of the Order of Saint Patrick, established in 1783, and after the Acts of Union 1800 it was combined with the Saint George's Cross of England and the Saint Andrew's Cross of Scotland to form the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. A saltire was intermittently used as a symbol of Ireland from the seventeenth century, but without reference to Saint Patrick.

It was formerly a common custom to wear a cross made of paper or ribbon on St Patrick's Day. Surviving examples of such badges come in many colours and they were worn upright rather than as saltires.

Saint Patrick's Bell
The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin possesses a bell first mentioned, according to the Annals of Ulster, in the Book of Cuanu in the year 552. The bell was part of a collection of 'relics of Patrick' removed from his tomb sixty years after his death by Colum Cille to be used as relics. The bell is described as 'The Bell of the Testament', one of three relics of 'precious minna' (extremely valuable items), of which the other two are described as Patrick's goblet and 'The Angels Gospel'. Colum Cille is described to have been under the direction of an 'Angel' for whom he sent the goblet to Down, the bell to Armagh, and kept possession of the Angel's Gospel for himself. The name Angels Gospel is given to the book because it was supposed that Colum Cille received it from the angel's hand. A stir was caused in 1044 when two kings, in some dispute over the bell, went on spates of prisoner taking and cattle theft. The annals make one more apparent reference to the bell when chronicling a death, of 1356: 'Solomon Ua Mellain, The Keeper of The Bell of the Testament, protector, rested in Christ'.

'The bell itself is simple in design, hammered into shape with a small handle fixed to the top with rivets. Originally forged from iron, it has since been coated in bronze. It is encased in a bell shrine', a distinctive Irish type of reliquary made for it, as an inscription records, by King Domnall Ua Lochlainn sometime between 1091 and 1105. The shrine is an important example of the final, Viking-influenced, style of Irish Celtic art, with intricate Urnes style decoration in gold and silver. The shrine is inscribed with three names, including King Domnall Ua Lochlainn's. The rear of the shrine, not intended to be seen, is decorated with crosses while the handle is decorated with, among other work, Celtic designs of birds. The bell is accredited with working a miracle in 1044 and having been coated in bronze to shield it from human eyes, for which it would be too holy. It measures 12.5 × 10 cm at the base, 12.8 ×4 cm at the shoulder, 16.5cm from base to shoulder, 3.3cm from shoulder to top of handle and weighs 1.7kg.

St Patrick's Day

The 17th of March, popularly known as St. Patrick's Day, is believed to be his death date and is the date celebrated as his Feast Day. The day became a feast day in the catholic church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, as a member of the commission for the reform of the Breviary in the early part of the seventeenth century.

For most of Christianity's first thousand years, canonisations were done on the diocesan or regional level. Relatively soon after the death of people considered very holy, the local Church affirmed that they could be liturgically celebrated as saints. As a result, St. Patrick has never been formally canonised by a Pope; nevertheless, various Christian churches declare that he is a Saint in Heaven (he is in the List of Saints). He is still widely venerated in Ireland and elsewhere today.

St. Patrick is honoured with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) and with a commemoration on the calendar of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, both on 17 March. St. Patrick is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among English-speaking Orthodox Christians living in Ireland, the UK and in the USA. There are Orthodox icons dedicated to him.

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services, and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.

The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 14 March. Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.[19][20] However, the secular celebration is always held on 17 March.

The 'Wearing of the Green'

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's Day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the ubiquitous wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs has become a feature of the day. In the 1798 rebellion, to make a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching public attention. The phrase 'the wearing of the green', meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from a song of the same name.

Observance in Ireland

In 1903, Saint Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland. This was thanks to the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, an act of the United Kingdom Parliament introduced by Irish Member of Parliament James O'Mara. O'Mara later introduced the law that required that pubs and bars be closed on 17 March after drinking got out of hand, a provision that was repealed in the 1970s. The first Saint Patrick's Day parade held in the Irish Free State was held in Dublin in 1931 and was reviewed by the then Minister of Defence Desmond Fitzgerald. In the mid-1990s the government of the Republic of Ireland began a campaign to use Saint Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture.

The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five-day festival saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks. Skyfest forms the centrepiece of the festival.

St Patrick's Day Foods

As well as traditional Irish foods and drinks, St Patrick's day is also celebrated with various foods (particularly cakes) and drinks coloured green with food colouring.