Fact check—a standard rule for writing.

Today, because it is St. Patrick’s Day and because I love this holiday, I thought it would be fun to look up the history of this beautiful green holiday.

Every good writer must know the facts. Even if we create an entire make-believe world, we still have to operate inside the rules we set for our worlds.

We have to come up with all the typical daily life traditions, holidays the people will celebrate, and even the good, bad, and ugly.

I have read some delightful stories that time-traveling back to medieval Ireland. You have the fabulous leine dress with bell sleeves and leather belts, the rustic men, and the beautiful landscape. It depicts an idyllic world to live in. 

However, for St. Patrick, it was now.

St. Patrick is the person the holiday is named after, who had the actual name of Maewyn Succat. His story starts on a horrible note. He was born a Roman Britain, kidnapped at 16, and taken to Ireland as a slave. After seven years in slavery, he escaped, but returned years later at the beginning of the 5th century, around 432 A.D., after becoming an ordained priest named Patrick to bring Christianity to the Irish people.

Ireland is known for its folklore. One of their stories is about St. Patrick, who banished all the snakes from the island. According to biologists, there never were any snakes on the island. (I don’t know about you, but that sounds wonderful.)

On a more beautiful and eternal note, it is said that he used the shamrock, or clover, as a way to explain the gospel and trinity (God, Son, and Holy Spirit) to the people when he returned to Ireland. The Celts believed that each leaf on a clover has a meaning. St. Patrick used this to connect God’s saving grace of salvation with the people. 

The economy and challenges in the country changed over the years, leading to significant emigration to the United States, bringing the traditions of St. Patrick’s Day with the emigrants.

While we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in America, It is not a national holiday.  However, how the holiday was initially celebrated in Ireland is much different from how we celebrate it here in the United States. Let’s look at those differences.

Difference #1 – National Holiday
St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated as a religious holiday in Ireland for over 1500 years. In 1903, Ireland made it an official national holiday. Most of the people of Ireland get the day off to celebrate. In the US, we do not recognize it as a national holiday. We enjoy the fun it brings, but it doesn’t cause any closures to our government.

Difference #2 – Name of the holiday
On all the US calendars, this day is listed as St. Patrick’s Day, with the shortening of its name to St. Patty’s Day. It is called St. Paddy’s Day, or Paddy’s Day for short in Ireland.

Difference #3 – Parade Size
We sure do like our parades in America. St. Patrick’s Day is no different. We go all out for our holiday celebration and put on a huge parade. In Ireland, the parades are much smaller. 
In 2021, Chicago welcomed an estimated 500,000 people to their city for the parade. In Dublin, for the 2022 parade, they expected 400,000 people to come to the city for the parade. 

Difference #4 – Soda Bread
I love some soda bread, and when I discovered it, I was hooked and made it every year. But in truth, the Irish soda bread is much more like brown bread, with no extras added to the bread to include no butter. The Irish also enjoy the bread year-round. 

Difference #5 – Nothing is dyed green
Dying the Chicago River green has been a tradition since 1962. Nothing is dyed green in Ireland. This also means that none of the food or drinks in Ireland are made to be green. Everything stays the same color it normally is. 

Difference #6 – The Enthusiasm for the holiday is different
In America, we go all out for the holiday, including the dying of rivers, parades, changing our clothes, and the color of food. The Irish celebrate the holiday on a much smaller scale. Instead, the country has a major influx of tourists coming to celebrate the holiday in the beautiful country of Ireland.

Difference #7 0The traditional color.
St. Patrick preferred the color blue over green. It wasn’t until 1798, during the Irish Rebellion, that wearing the clover and green became a thing for the holiday. 

While I may not love that the traditional color was blue, I am happy that I looked up all the differences for this holiday. It is a good reminder to check the facts when writing stories.

However, you plan to celebrate today, be safe, and have fun. 

Action steps for today: Always check your facts.