2007-02-14 10:56:25 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
He drove all the snakes out of Ireland. It is celebrated because the Irish will use any excuse for a drink.
2007-02-14 10:59:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Saint Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland. The bit about the snakes is an attempt to explain why there are no snakes found in Ireland. For more information, search 'Saint Patrick' on Google or Dogpile.
2007-02-14 11:12:16 · answer #2 · answered by JelliclePat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He got rid of the "snakes" in Ireland. That is, he supposedly routed out the Pagan earth-deity religion that revered snakes as a symbol of a go-between for earth and the underworld (land of the dead.)
St. Patrick's day coincides with some kind of Pagan holiday...Brigid? Something like that. Christian missionaries were instructed to co-opt any Pagan traditions they could to add to the Christian religion and denounce any other traditions as devil worship. Christianity blends well with Paganism because, well, it's a Pagan religion itself, though it doesn't like to admit it. It's a Pagan religion with roots in Judaism (which is rooted in Middle Eastern Pagan religions. And so on.)
I don't even know that there ever were snakes on Ireland. I think the idea of sacred snakes was probably brought from Continental Europe. That's where the people came from who moved to Ireland.
Some islands don't have snakes. Like, Hawaii didn't have snakes until fools importing crap from the mainland brought them to the island.
They also didn't have coqui frogs from Puerto Rico or rats. I think they didn't have pineapple, either. Or sugar cane.
So I guess the pineapple makes up for the other stuff.
2007-02-14 11:15:16 · answer #3 · answered by SlowClap 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He won a war with a clover. The full story:
The Irish were fighting in a war. The enemy was dressed in the same color so all the Irish were killing their own people. Saint Patrick suggested that they attach a clover to themselves. Then the people didn't get confused and won the war. But in all, St. Patrick did a lot of things. He was also a Christian missionary.
2007-02-14 11:28:51 · answer #4 · answered by Lizzie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He's supposed to have brought Christianity to Ireland, and that's why he's the patron saint of that country. But actually, Christianity was brought to Ireland by a Roman monk called Palladius, who was sent by the pope in the 5th century.
2007-02-14 11:00:49 · answer #5 · answered by murnip 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He killed all the snakes in Ireland
2007-02-14 11:00:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
he "drove the snakes out of Ireland"........
2007-02-14 11:00:03 · answer #7 · answered by AZrunner 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋