So who was this Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland? Why do we in Canada celebrate on March 17th each year?
First a little background. I bet you did not know that D'Arcy McGee, Eugene O'Keefe, founder of O'Keefe Breweries and even former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and current Quebec Premier Jean Charest are all of Irish descent.
So what Province would you guess has the strongest Irish-Canadian connections? Would you guess Ontario? Wrong.
One of the Maritime Provinces? Wrong. In Quebec, of all places, 40 per cent of the population claims Irish ancestry. When you realize that Canada's port of entry for Irish immigrants was in fact, Quebec, it becomes less surprising that the first Canadian St. Patrick's Day celebration is said to have taken place in Quebec City in 1765.
Irish immigration surged in the mid-1800s. Up until then potatoes were the staple food for the Irish. With the potato blight disease, there was little for the Irish to eat, so many sought out new horizons to call home. The country itself lost 25 per cent of its population to either starvation, disease or emigration. In 1847 alone, 100,000 left for Canada, in particular Quebec City.

Thirty-seven per cent of them died either from starvation, or diseases such as cholera, etc. either in transit, or shortly after their arrival.
Back to St. Patrick himself. He was born in the later half of the 4th century. His birth place is said to actually be in either Scotland or Roman England. His real name was Maewyn Succat. Patricus became his Romanized name. The son of a Roman-British army officer, he was kidnapped by a band of pirates. He was later sold into slavery in Ireland.
Some years later he escaped his slavery and went to Britain and eventually made it to France to join a monastery there. After 12 years of training, he became a Bishop, and dreamed that the Irish were beckoning him back to Ireland to tell them about God.
With the Pope's blessings, he converted many Gaelic Irish, who were mostly pagans during that period.
He was said to have used the clover as a symbol to explain the Catholic concept of Trinity. It was also widely believed that he drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. Remember that the snake or serpent was also a symbol for the devil.

Many holy wells dotted the countryside where Saint Patrick did Baptisms, drove out demons, and performed miracles. Pilgrimages to these holy wells resulted in healings of both a physical and spiritual nature. Right here in Ontario, in the Upper Ottawa Valley, I many times have visited the small hamlet of Mount St. Patrick. Near the cemetery, by the river, there lies their own Holy Well. Adorned with pictures of St. Patrick and small bottles of water from the Holy Well, there are plaques telling of the history of the community, including miracles ascribed to the amazing powers from the water of the Holy Well of Mount Saint Patrick.

Did you know that the largest St. Patrick Day parade is not in Ireland but in New York City? More than 3 million people will line the route. It is said to take five hours to watch the entire parade. Perhaps New York should be known, not as the Big Apple, but the Big Shamrock.
So what city lays claim to the second largest St. Paddy's parade? Would you believe it is a city in Georgia? Savannah is celebrating their 185th edition of their St. Patrick's Day parade. So Savannah will be awash in green, the traditional Irish symbol for the spring. Their first parade was said to be started by 13 Irish Protestants who were trying to help needy Irish immigrants forget their troubles and for one day celebrate their roots with traditional music, etc. It is the 'etc.' that most of us seemed to have embraced!
Faith and Begorrah, if you think any of this has been blarney you can contact me at BillFoxExpress@hotmail.com