17 Mar 2010 – Happy Bday to niece LEONG PatLyn

Saint Patrick (Sanctus Patricius/Latin, Naomh Pádraig/Irish) c. 387 – 17 March 493 was a Romanized-Celt, a who is the most generally recognised patron saint of Ireland. Patrick was born in Roman Britian. Calpornius, his father, was a deacon, his grandfather Potitus a priest. When he was about sixteen, he was captured and carried off as a slave to Ireland where he worked as a herdsman, remaining a captive for six years. He writes that his faith grew in captivity, and that he prayed daily. After six years he heard a voice telling him that he would soon go home, and then that his ship was ready. Fleeing his master, he travelled to a port, two hundred miles away he says,where he found a ship and, after various adventures, returned home to his family.

Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from Ireland, though all evidence suggests that post-glacial Ireland never had snakes! Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of ‘three divine persons in the one God’ .

Saint Patrick’s Day/Lá Fhéile Pádraig is celebrated on 17 March. It began as a purely Christian holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland’s culture and is now a public holiday in Ireland. This day is also considered the national day for Ireland and even in SIN we had the parade on Sun in pouring rain, just like 2009. My most memorable one was in Dublin/Ireland 1974 when I was in labour waiting for the birth of Linn.

Tonight, there will be a reception hosted by the Ambassador of Ireland in SIN. Looking forward to catching up with some of the Irish Graduates Association in SIN/IGAS members who did not get wet at the parade!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit. Tabhair póg dom, táim Éireannach