St. Patrick is probably one of the most internationally recognised patron saints, but for those who do not know he is indeed the patron saint of Ireland. His feast day, March 17th, is celebrated around the world by parades passing through the main streets of hundreds of villages, towns and cities. St. Patrick was originally from Wales, but spent most of his life traveling Ireland spreading the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, converting the masses from paganism, which was prevalent in Ireland at the time (4th-5th century ish). He used the shamrock, a three leaf clover, to explain the mystery of the holy trinity; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bunches of shamrock are still worn by people on his feast day.
The real legend of St. Patrick, however, is that he banished all the snakes from Ireland. It has since been proven that post-glacial Ireland had no snakes to begin with, so where did this come from? Some believe it comes from St. Patrick's conversion of pagans, as the Druids used a serpent as their symbol. Others believe fanatics of the saint spread the story on order to help him gain popularity. Either way, it was recognised a long time ago that Patrick, even though he dedicated his whole life to the church, he did not perform any 'miracles', a necessity in the eyes of the church, to becoming a saint. Therefore our very own St. Patrick is not actually a saint. It is reported that he was buried in Downpatrick , Co. Down which is in Northern Ireland, though nobody knows. this for sure. His jawbone, however, had been sold to thousands upon thousands of gullible Americans over the years.
