St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was born in Britain near the end of the fourth century. At the age of 16, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland, where he was forced to be a slave for six years. He worked as a shepherd, guarding sheep. It is also believed that it was during this time that he became a Christian.
Fortunately, St. Patrick managed to escape captivity, walking nearly 200 miles to the Irish coast. He chose to spend his freedom sharing the beliefs of Christianity with the Irish, a culture and language which he had now become familiar with.
According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes away from Ireland. In reality, Ireland never had any snakes to begin with because the waters surrounding it were too cold for snakes to migrate. But scholars say that the snakes weren’t meant to be taken literally, but rather as symbols for Christianity taking over paganism.
St. Patrick’s Day in the world
Today, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in Ireland as well as in the USA and other countries in the world. Chicago has been dyeing its river green to celebrate the occasion for over 50 years now. The annual celebrations have even reached Madrid! Parades of Irish music and dances can be seen in the streets, complete with men in kilts playing bagpipes and people drinking beer and eating green food, such as cabbage.
All of this week, we have been teaching our students in primary and secondary about the history and modern traditions of St. Patrick’s Day. My 1st and 2nd grade students are excited about the possibility of capturing a leprechaun to get all their gold. Leprechauns are little green fairy men with red hair and green clothes. Each one is believed to be hiding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If you happen to capture these clever and mischievous Irish creatures, they will grant you three wishes and their pot of gold in exchange for their freedom.
A fun recipe
Here’s a fun St. Patrick’s Day recipe that you can try at home! We might never be able to find a leprechaun’s gold, but this Rainbow Pizza recipe we found on wellplated.com could be the next best thing!
Ingredients
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Dough.
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Vanilla-flavoured Greek yogurt for the sauce.
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Fruit: Strawberries, sliced kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, and mandarin oranges. These are just suggestions. Feel free to use whatever fruits you like!
Directions
1.- Roll out the dough and shape it into a rainbow arch.
2.- Bake until lightly golden and crisp. Remove and let cool.
3.- Meanwhile, cut and prepare your fruit.
4.- When ready to assemble, spread the yogurt over the top of the crust, then decorate the pizza with the fruit in a rainbow stripe pattern.
5.- Cut into slices. ENJOY!
We also taught our students about the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day, such as the four-leaf clover–a rare genetic mutation of the plant that is believed to bring you luck if you find one. In ESO, we had our students make word clouds of their wishes and write them on four-leaf clover cut-outs. We hope it gives them an extra boost of luck to achieve their dreams!
You’re more than welcome to join our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations! Make sure to check out the English Natives booth at Colegio Alkor’s Open House this Sunday, March 17, 2024. Spin the wheel and answer trivia questions about St. Patrick’s Day. If you answer correctly, we’ll reward you with gold (chocolate) coins!
See you there!
Catherine
English Native Assistant