St Patrick's Day 2010

St Patrick's Day was first celebrated in Sydney in 1810 when the NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie provided entertainment for Irish convicts. We love the Irish and tonight, the Sydney Opera House will turn green and there will be much revelry in and around The Rocks and in other Irish pubs across the country, where large amounts of Guinness will be consumed.


But we don't know anything about the famous Saint. The real St Patrick wasn't even Irish, he was born in Britain around 390 AD to a well-heeled family who had a town house, a country house and lots of slaves.

He showed no interest in Christianity as a young boy but when he turned 16, he was kidnapped and sent overseas to look after sheep as a slave in the mountains of Ireland for seven years. While he was there he had a religious experience and became deeply devout. In a dream, a voice told him to escape and he returned to England on a pirate ship. After being reuninted with his family, the voice told him to go back to Ireland, which he did, and spent the rest of his life converting the Irish to Christianity. When he died on 17th March 461, Patrick was mainly forgotton but slowly, mythology about him grew and centuries later, he was honoured as the Patron Saint of Ireland.

In Ireland on St Patrick's Day, it's traditional for revelers to wear a shamrock. St Patrick chose the shamrock to explain the holy trinity, the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. But after a very long winter, there are few authentic shamrocks to be found this year so shamrock sellers are resorting to other three-leaf clovers which according to the Irish Times, are "bogus shamrocks". Botanists say that there's nothing unique about the Irish shamrocks, most species can be found throughout Europe. St Patrick got the credit for banishing all the snakes and it's true that no snakes exist in Ireland today but they never did, it's simply too cold for them to survive.

Up until the 1970's, St Patrick's Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday until the Americans re-invented it. Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the US Revolutionary War held the first St Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762. In 1962 Chicago decided to dye a portion of their river green, a unique event held for the past 40 years.

The Sydney 2010 St Patrick's Parade will be held this Saturday, 21st March leaving the Town Hall and making its way to Hyde Park where a family day has been organised. Food stalls will serve Irish food and beverages, which will naturally include a cold glass of Guinness.