Saint Patrick:
St. Patrick's given name was Maewyn. Maewyn was born in Wales about AD 385. Besides from being a saint until the age of 16, he considered himself a pagan. Also at the age of 16 he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village, and during that time he became closer to god. He escaped from slavery after six years.

Afterwards, he went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. When he was being trained he learned that he had to to convert the pagans to Christianity.

He wished to return to Ireland, and convert native pagans to Christianity. his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland. He was very successful at winning converts.

Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity. His mission in Ireland lasted for 30 years.

After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

St. Patrick's Day:
March 17 became St. Patrick's Day when Maewyn died on March 17 in AD 461.

Some people believed that Maewyn (Patrick) raised people from the dead, and also that he drove all snakes away from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland. The holiday was originally a Catholic holiday, but then St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

The traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. This stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. The shamrock is ussually shown to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. People adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, it was celebrated in Boston.