Who was Saint Patrick?
Believe it or not, even though he is thought of by many as the patron saint of Ireland, he wasn't actually Irish... at least not to begin with. His importance also depends on which part of Ireland you are talking about: in southern Ireland where more people are Catholic, Patrick's sainthood is celebrated. In the north where more people are Protestant, the "saint" isn't celebrated.

"Patrick" was born Maewyn Succat in Wales around 385 A.D. At about 16 years old he was sold into slavery when his village was raided. About 6 years later, he escaped to a monastery in Gaul (France) where he lived and studied under the Bishop of Auxerre, St. Germain, for nearly 12 years. It was there he found his calling: converting pagans (like he himself once was) to Christianity.

Eventually he returned to Ireland, and through much hardship, was quite successful in his quest to convert the pagans.
St. Patrick "driving all the snakes (the pagans) from Ireland" is a metaphor for this. He died on March 17, 461 A.D. This is the day that is celebrated as St. Patrick's Day.

It is said that St. Patrick used the shamrock as a symbol for Christianity. Maybe this, and our great love of holidays, helped to start many of the traditions now associated with the holiday... the beautiful green Irish countryside, green shamrocks, green leprechauns, green anything! ...and a bit o' gold for the luck o' the Irish.

...speaking of green, here's a very special

St. Patrick's Day Recipe

ingredients:

• 1 gal. Green Food Color
• anything that you might normally eat or drink

Prepare anything that you might normally eat or drink much as you normally would.
Now mix in copious amounts of green food color.
Stir well and consume.

Suggestion: Stop eating and drinking when you start to feel a bit "green".