I have to confess that I thought St. Patrick’s Day was about pots of gold, leprechauns and four leaf clovers. I suppose if I thought hard about it, I would have guessed that St. Patrick was a Catholic saint. So, in a fit of curiosity and because I recently subscribed to a blog, Celebrating Holidays, to help me blog, I read the true history of St. Patrick. He’s like Joan of Arc!
So, here is the blog post on the History of St. Patrick’s Day. And here is a video if you prefer something visual.
And here is another short video about St. Patrick at History.com.
Books for Kids About the History of St. Patrick’s Day
Story of Saint Patrick’s Day by Patricia A. Pingry
This picture book covers the story of St. Patrick for a preschooler, ages 2 and up.
St. Patrick’s Day (Holiday Histories) by Jennifer Blizin Gillis
This book would be great for ages 6 through 8.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!!!
p.s. Related posts:
Delivering Thanksgiving Dinner to the Elderly: Our Hasbro Kindness Project
Getting Your Own Luck Assuming You Are Not Irish
McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal® is Our Favorite Breakfast
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This video is one of the best I have seen for a comprehensive short history of the holiday. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Hi Barbara,
I knew so little about St. Patrick’s day with incorrect preconceived ideas that it was selfishly for me! Glad you enjoyed it too!
Thanks, Mia!
I like Tomie dePaola’s book on St. Patrick called simply Patrick.
It’s not about St. Patrick’s day, but Fiona’s luck by Teresa Bateman is a funny book about Ireland.
Hi Maria,
I love Tomie dePaola and haven’t heard of Patrick so I will try to find that at the library! Fiona’s Luck sounds wonderful too! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful book recommendations! I really appreciate it!!!
Thanks for the resources! I find it interesting that St. Patrick’s Day was not observed at all in the public schools in our majority Catholic town in Massachusetts, but was a big deal in the kids’ public schools here today – where there is a much more diverse population! Of course, they were talking about leprechauns, not saints, but still…
Hi MaryAnne,
My kids only really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in preschool and in Kindergarten. They loved it. They built leprechaun traps in teams and their classroom was decorated. On St. Patrick’s day, the leprechuan left little green footprints in their bathroom toilet and a note saying how great their traps were!
Oh, they wrote these cute notes to the leprechuan to lure them into the their trap (with invented spelling since that was where they were at. it was so adorable!)
I checked out a book on St. Patrick’s day to educate my daughter, but I learned quite a lot too! Funny that most of us don’t know this holiday’s origins. Thanks for linking up!
Hi Anna,
I knew nothing about the real St. Patrick either which made me curious and I was amazed to find out that my preconceived notions were incorrect. He really was quite a gamechanger and I was so glad to learn more about him, his life, and his incredible accomplishments. Thanks Anna!