JĘZYK ANGIELSKI

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the 17th of March every year.

The celebration became official in the seventeenth century and commemorates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as Irish culture and heritage in general. Common symbols of the day are the colour green, shamrocks and leprechauns, small creatures known from Irish stories and legends. Saint Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and the island of Montserrat, but is also celebrated in Britain, Canada, the USA, Australia and Argentina and many other countries around the world - even in Japan! Celebrations include parades, festivals and parties, as well as heavy eating and drinking, done especially in Irish pubs. Many people dress in green for the occasion. Some people also come up with more unusual ways to pay tribute to Saint Patrick and the Irish. In 2011, the water in the fountain in front of the White House was coloured green on the 17th of March. In Chicago, USA, the Chicago River is dyed green for the occasion - imagine a bright green river flowing through the city centre!

Celebrations in Ireland

People around Ireland celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because he is the saint patron of the country. There are parades in most towns and villages. A week-long St. Patrick’s festival takes place in Dublin. It includes a firework display, open-air music, and a traditional parade. St. Patrick’s Day parades in Ireland started in the late 19^th century.

Green is the colour of Ireland. Some people say that you can find 40 shades of green in the Irish countryside. On St. Patrick’s Day many people wear a bunch of shamrocks on their lapels or caps. In the past, girls also wore green ribbons in their hair.

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Celebrations in the USA

St. Patrick’s Day is not a national holiday in the United States but it is a special day. The first celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day in the American colonies took place in Boston in 1737. In New York City, people celebrated this festival in 1756. Today the New York parade is the largest parade in the world. In 2003, there were more than 150,000 participants, who marched up 5^th Avenue in Manhattan.

Why do so many Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Because many Americans have Irish origins. In the 1840s many people from Ireland emigrated to the United States because they did not have enough food. Today, the Irish people in the US remember their country.