Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, in 387. His birth name was Maewyn Succat. His father was a Roman colonial officer, and his mother was related to Saint Martin of Tours (ca. 316-ca. 397), who dedicated his life to the Christian conversion of Gaul (France). At 16, Patrick was carried off by Irish invaders and was sold as a slave to a chieftan named Milchu, who lived in what is now County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

For six years he was a shepherd for Milchu's flocks, all the while praying constantly. In his Confessio he writes, "in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same . . ." He became fluent in Celtic, and because his master was also a Druidical high priest Patrick also learned the ways of their worship. This knowledge would be invaluable to him in his later missionary work.

At the age of 22, he escaped and made his way back to Britain, where he was ordained priest and given the name of Patricius, or Patrick. After 18 years of study and missionary work in England and France, he was sent to Ireland to bring Christianity to the Irish Celts. In a ministry lasting for many decades, Patrick baptized thousands, converted the warlike chieftains to the Christian faith, gradually overcame the religious hold of the Druids, and performed numerous miracles. Many myths came to surround him during his life and posthumously. He was reputed to be able to raise the dead and, most famously, was said to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland-which may have been a metaphor for his conversion of the Druids. The date of his death is uncertain. Some records claim 464, and others (including the official account of the Catholic Church) date his death in 493, by which time he would have been 106 years old. But there is general agreement that he died on March 17, now celebrated as Saint Patrick's Day.

Saint Patrick's Day festivities can be found all over the world. Despite centuries of intermittent hostilities with the English, there has always been a close relationship between the two countries. Irish men and women made their homes in England from medieval times onward. Writers, artists, clerics, doctors, and lawyers often established their careers and reputations in England. During the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, large numbers of Irish people came to England to build canals. They were called navigational engineers, or "navvies" for short. The Irish were among the first Europeans to settle Australia-many were deported to the Australian and Tasmanian penal colonies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Irish were among the first immigrants to the United States, too, and the first public celebrations of Saint Patrick's Day in this country were in Boston in 1737. New York City held its first Saint Patrick's Day parade in 1762, and it has become the biggest Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world. During the Great Potato Famine of 1845-1850, a great number of Irish families moved to the United States, settling particularly in Boston and New York City. Wherever they went, the Irish took something of their homeland with them, and though they have integrated and prospered all over the world, they have never forgotten the "Old Sod."

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated all over Ireland by people of every faith. It is a festival that transcends religious differences-a time when people sing, dance, participate in parades, eat, and drink together. Everybody wears the shamrock (the object that Saint Patrick used to explain the Trinity to the chieftans) and something green. It is a celebration of Irishness, and everybody is welcome to join in the revelry-including those who are not Irish at all. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland's biggest Saint Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multiday celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks. Over half a million people lined the streets of Dublin, and millions worldwide tuned in to watch Ireland celebrate.

In towns and cities all over the United States, March 17 is a time for parties and parades. In Chicago, forty pounds of vegetable dye keep the Chicago River running green for several hours. More than a million visitors come to New York City to participate in America's greatest celebration of Ireland, the Irish, and Irish America. In fact, a large part of the world becomes green for a day. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in places as far from Ireland as Japan, Singapore, and Russia. And if you say "Happy Saint Patrick's Day" to a Nigerian, she or he will return your good wishes, since Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Nigeria, too.