St Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th to honor St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It originated as a Catholic holiday but is now celebrated by people of all backgrounds. Symbols of the holiday include the shamrock and leprechauns. Major parades are held in Dublin and New York City, but the holiday has spread worldwide. The Chicago river is even dyed green for the occasion.

1. St Patrick’s Day
When and Why?
St. Patrick's Day
honors St. Patrick,
the patron saint of
Ireland. Irish people
celebrate St. Patrick's
Day on March 17th.

2. Who was
St Patrick?
March 17th was not the
day St. Patrick was born
but the day he died.
St. Patrick was born in
Wales, studied religion and
then went to Ireland to
teach the people about God.

3. The legends say that Saint Patrick drove all
the snakes out of Ireland.
They all went into
the sea and drowned.

4. St Patrick’s
symbols

5. The shamrock
According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to
explain about God. The shamrock,
which looks like clover, has three leaves.
Saint Patrick told the people that the
shamrock was like the idea of the
Trinity – that in the one God there are three divine
beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The
shamrock was sacred to the Druids, so Saint Patrick’s
use of it in explaining the trinity was very wise.

6. Leprechauns
The stories about Leprechauns tell how they are
very clever little creatures. They look like a small,
old man.
According to the stories,
leprechauns are unfriendly
and unsociable.
They live alone, and pass
the time making shoes
for the fairies.

7. They also have a hidden pot of gold.
If you catch one,
you can threaten to hurt him
if he doesn't tell you
where the treasure is.
But, you must keep your eyes on him every second.
If the leprechaun tricks you into looking away, he
will disappear.
Then you have no hope of finding the treasure.

8. Green colour
Green is associated with Saint
Patrick's Day because it is the
colour of spring, Ireland, and
the shamrock.

9. Where do people celebrate it?
Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day
is celebrated in countries around the world.
People with Irish heritage
remind themselves of
the beautiful green
countryside of Ireland
by wearing green
and taking part
in the festivities.

10. Ireland (Dublin)
Saint Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated
with a parade. The one in Dublin, Ireland
is known to some as the Irish Mardi Gras.
There is irish music and typical dances.

11. USA
In Chicago every year
on St Patrick’s day the
river is coloured green.
There is an important
parade too

12. But the one in New York City is
actually one of the biggest. Two Irish
wolfhounds, the mascots of the New York
National Guard always start the
parade. More than one hundred bands
and a hundred thousand marchers follow
the wolfhounds in the parade.

13. This parade in
Japan started in
1992 for the purpose
of introducing Ireland
to Japanese

14. Did you know all these things about this
festival?
Now you can answer these questions about it:
When is St Patrick’s day?
What are the symbols of this festival?
What countries do they celebrate it in?

15. THE END