Faith and Begorrah.  'Tis St. Paddy's day.  A  toast to you all:

  "Up Yours"

Don't you think it's funny that St. Patrick wasn't even an Irishman?

St. Patrick's Day is pretty close to the top of my list for easy work days.  This day is a little like Halloween.  People dress up in the craziest outfits, drink colored beverages and act strangely the whole day.  I won't have to spend much time instigating today.

    Saint Patrick's Day (March 17th), is an Irish holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity (in the A.D. 400's).
    Saint Patrick was not actually Irish.  Historical sources report that he was born around 373 A.D. in either Scotland (neasounds/irishjigr the town of Dumbarton) or in Roman Britain (the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D.).  His real name is believed to be Maewyn Succat (he took on Patrick, or Patricus, after he became a priest).  He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.  During his six year captivity (he worked as a shepherd), he began to have religious visions, and found strength in his faith.  He finally escaped (after voices in one of his visions told him where he could find a getaway ship) and went to France, where he became a priest (and later a bishop).

    When he was about 60 years old, St. Patrick traveled to Ireland to spread the Christian word.  It's said that Patrick had an unusually winning personality, and that helped him win converts.  He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Trinity.
    In America, Saint Patrick's Day is a basically a time to wear green and party.  The first American celebration of Saint Patrick's Day was in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737.  As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!"  Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades, the largest is in New York City.
    Green is associated with Saint Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.  Leprechauns are also associated with this holiday, although no one really knows why.  Leprechauns of legend are actually mean little creatures.  (This proves that the Lucky Charms guy isn't a legendary leprechaun).  They were probably added later on because capitalists needed something cute to put on greeting cards.

(I like to throw in an educational section every month)