The trappings of St. Patrick's Day are familiar to most Americans these days. There's drinking, green bowlers , leprechauns with their shillelaghs , four leaf clovers everywhere you can imagine, and parades that usually involve men in kilts playing the bagpipes . While these celebrations are fairly old, beginning in the 1760's in New York, St. Patrick's Day has been observed by the Irish for over 1,000 years. As such, to figure out just where everything came from and where this saint came from, you need to dig back into history. Though we know him today as Patrick, the man's original name was Succat according to Baby Names of Ireland. Succat , or Patrick to keep things simple, was born to wealthy parents in Britain. His father was a Christian deacon, though the household appeared to be devoted to the church more for tax breaks than for faith. Patrick was taken hostage at the age of 16 by Celtic raiders, who we...
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