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St. Patrick's Day

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day In Old Ireland

All over the world, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with elaborate parades; families tuck into the traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage; and, in the pubs, the green beer flows swifter than the River Shannon. It's odd to think that just a short time ago, none of the most popular customs we often take for granted even existed. In fact, today's celebrations are very different from the way they once were, in Ireland long ago.

While St. Patrick's Day is now a national holiday, as well as a religious feast day, a few hundred years ago, the emphasis was on spirituality and a much needed break from the austerities of Lent. Families would attend Mass, and every youngster proudly wore a St. Patrick's Cross. The week before the festival, children busied themselves in the making of the crosses, which differed, depending on whether you were a boy or a girl.

The boy's cross consisted of a three-inch square of white paper on which was drawn a circle divided by elliptical lines. Each compartment was shaded in with a different color. For yellow, an egg yolk was often used; green could be had by chewing young grass; laundry blue provided another shade; and red, well, it was a cross for a little boy and one can only imagine how proud he must have been to sacrifice a few drops of blood in honor of St. Patrick! Come the big day, the finished cross was jauntily worn, military style, on his cap.

While the cross for a boy was quite simple, the one for his sister was a bit fancier. It was formed by placing two three-inch pieces of cardboard or stiff paper at right angles to each other. To hold them in position, they were wrapped with ribbons of different colors and then a green rosette was placed in the center. The proper way for a girl to wear her cross was either pinned at the right shoulder or on her chest. And, speaking of proper, it would have been considered a major faux pas for a girl to wear a boy's cross or vice versa.

Besides the crosses for children, there was another type which was made only by the menfolk. This was formed out of twigs from wild sallow and, as with the St. Brigid's Cross, it was pinned to the thatch on the inside of the house. Each year a new one would be added. With all of their crosses prepared, children went to bed on the eve of March 17th happy and contented - as did the adults. Tomorrow, all Lenten restrictions would be set aside for a day of feasting and merriment!

Whatever the weather, St. Patrick's Day was generally regarded as the middle day of spring. And, as the good saint had promised improved weather from March 17th onward, this was the time Ireland's farmers planted the main potato crop. Delaying this work long after the feast day would have been regarded by the neighbors as slovenly or lazy. That said, no-one expected any work to be done on the big day itself! While we don't celebrate the way our ancestor's did, one custom has come down to us - the wearing of the Shamrock.

Meanwhile, back in the Ireland of our ancestors, when Mass was over, the mother and children would hurry back to the house to begin preparing the feast. Just as quickly, the men headed for the pub to drink the 'pota Padraig' or St. Patrick's Pot. This term is rarely heard today, but it continued in fairly general use until quite recently and was also applied to any treat given to friends, or gifts of money or sweets given to children.

After one (or more!) St. Patrick's Pots, the menfolk hurried home to the feast. Usually, the good wife would have ear-marked a nice piece of cured pork. Corned beef and cabbage? Not back then, and not even now is this a traditional St. Patrick' s Day dinner! It's a custom that was begun by emigrants who, in longing for their native land, tried to create a meal that would remind them of home.

When dinner was over, many families either went to a caeli or held one in their homes. The musical instruments stored away on Shrove Tuesday were brought out and the evening was spent in singing, dancing, telling stories - and yes, the drinking continued! After all, there were still several weeks of fasting and abstinence ahead, so it was the order of the day to over-indulge. No doubt, the children were ill from eating too many sweets, and their parents probably suffered from sore heads the next day. In the eyes of the church, this would have been a most appropriate penance!

At the end of the evening, there was one last custom to observe: 'drowning the Shamrock.' A leaf that had been worn in the cap or coat was placed into the bottom of the final glass. When everyone's health had been drunk or a toast honored, the shamrock was taken from the bottom of the glass and thrown over the left shoulder. Also, in some parts of Southern Ireland, a cross was marked with the end of a burnt stick on the sleeve of each person at the gathering. This was done with a prayer that the individual so marked might be constant in their faith and in their love of Ireland's patron saint.

Bridget Haggerty. The author of The Traditional Irish Wedding . Celebrating St. Patrick's Day In Old Ireland. Take a look at my site dedicated to Irish and Celtic customs and culture at Irish culture and Irish customs. Resources: The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher. Irish Toasts compiled by Appletree Press, Ltd. Festivals and Events from 2camels. 2005.

UMR - the tradition UMR's tradition of excellence goes back to its founding in 1870 as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM). We were the first technological university west of the Mississippi and one of the first in the United States. For over 130 years, we've been one of the nation's premier universities for science, technology, and, of course, engineering. In 1964, MSM became known as the University of Missouri - Rolla, and now awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in 35 fields of engineering, science, humanities, and social sciences. Today, UMR continues its tradition of educating skilled professionals in engineering and science, and ranks among the top 25 American universities in the number of undergraduate engineering degrees awarded each year. Known for its small, caring environment and its individualized attention to students, UMR proudly brings its strong tradition of academic excellence into the 21st century, offering the quality of a private-school education at a public school price. For close to 100 years, the St. Pat's celebration at UMR has drawn thousands of people to Rolla and made news around the country. Every March a carnival atmosphere takes over the entire town and draws huge crowds to the games, concerts, dances, coronation ceremonies, and the annual parade down Pine Street. UMR alumni even paint the street green for the occasion. Men say that this holy bishop, Saint Patrick, did three great things. One is that he drove with his staff all the venomous beasts out of Ireland. The second, that he had grant of our Lord God that none Irish man shall abide the coming of Antichrist. The third wonder is read of his purgatory, which is more referred to the less Saint Patrick, the Abbot. And this holy abbot, because he found the people of that land rebel, he went out of Ireland and came in to England in the Abbey of Glastonbury, where he died on a Saint Bartholomew's day. He flourished about the year of our Lord eight hundred and fifty, and the holy bishop died the year of our Lord four hundred and ninety in the one hundred and twentysecond year of his age, to whom pray we that he pray for us.

St. Pat's - Our Celebration

St. Pat's, a long standing UMR tradition since 1908, was originally started at Mizzou to honor St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineering. In the spring of 1908 the University of Missouri - Columbia extended an invitation to the School of Mines to send a delegate to witness their ceremonies. As a result, a mass meeting was held in front of the post office, where all matters of importance were settled at the time, and J.H.Bowles was elected to be the delegate to the ceremonies in Columbia.

The Miners, however, were not content to let the situation remain at that. A committee consisting of G.A.Easley ('09), Clay Gregory ('10), and D.L.Forester ('11), was appointed by the student body to arrange a celebration in Rolla. However, since March 17th was a school day, the committee had to meet and make its arrangements in secret. On the 16th the committee had their assistants spend nearly all night decorating the huge entrance to Norwood Hall while taking care of the night watchman. Other deputies were busy posting the town with bills declaring a holiday for the following day and requested all students to meet at the depot at 8:00 the next morning. Considerable difficultly was encountered, as many of the students were skeptical, and the faculty was opposed to the idea. Nevertheless, March 17, 1908, was declared a holiday by popular vote of the student body, and on the morning of the 17th, St. Pat (George Menefee) arrived at the Grand Central Station and was met by the crowd armed with shillelaghs and wearing green sashes. St. Pat was escorted to his chariot, in which he rode to Norwood Hall at the head of a hastily arranged parade.

After lecturing the seniors, interpreting the marks on the Blarney Stone, and surveying a quadrangle with his transit (a forked stick with a beer bottle resting on it), he dubbed the class of 1908 and Dr. Lewis E. Young the "Knights of the Order of St. Patrick." Drinking and partying, along with a concert, followed the knighting ceremony. Everyone ended the day with a general resolve to continue the celebration in future years. March 17th was scheduled as a regular school holiday the following year. Also, at the senior meeting on March 7th of the same year, it was decided that the junior class would be put in charge of putting on future St. Pat's celebrations.

The St. Pat's Board was officially created on December 11,1930 by a three to one majority vote of the student body. Prior to this time, the celebration was still organized by the junior class. Unfortunately, by 1929 the event had grown to such proportions that politics and power struggles within the junior class threatened to destroy it. Even with the limited time that the first board had to organize the celebration as well as themselves, they still managed to successfully pull it off through lots of hard work and determination. They even managed to make a ten dollar profit.

In the fall semester of 1991 the unfortunate death of a member (died of too much alcohol) ended the St. Pat's Board along with an 83 year old tradition. A small group of Board members who were determined to not let the tradition die formed a new group with new members. The St. Pat's Committee was formed near the end of the fall semester of 1991. With little time to prepare, they successfully put on St. Pat's 1992. After overcoming many challenges, the St. Pat's Committee is doing well with growing support and participation every year.

St. Pat's Celebration Committee Web Site

The Year in Ireland This book describes how the round of the year, with its cycle of festivals and seasonal work, was observed in the Ireland of yesteryear. We follow the rhythm of the year from New Year to Easter, May Day to Harvest and Christmas, along with the chain of high days and feast days, St Brighid's Day, the Borrowed Days, Midsummer, St Swithin's Day, Lunasa, the Pattern Day, Samhain, Martinmas and Christmas.

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