Saint Patrick’s Day is often a holiday that gets overlooked. Falling on March 17, it gets forgotten with Valentine’s Day so close and the anticipation of Easter/Spring Break

Don’t look past this festive holiday though as it is packed with tradition and festive nature.

Saint Patrick’s Day is the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick was born in the late fourth century in Roman Britain. At age 16 he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland and was forced to be a slave. He escaped and returned home but around 432 CE he returned to Ireland to convert the Irish people to Christianity. He went on to establish churches, schools and monasteries. He passed away on March 17, 461.

To this day, Saint Patrick is known for using the shamrock clover as a way to teach the Trinity, which has now become a classic Saint Patrick’s Day symbol as it is the national plant.

Senior Addy Chalmers said, “As a Catholic, I feel very connected to the symbolism of the three-leaf shamrock that they use to teach the trinity — three leaves just like the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Saint Patrick’s Day was turned into a large holiday mostly from immigrants from Ireland to the United States. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants were the first to start large celebrations. Boston was the first to have a Saint Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, and New York followed in 1762.

Today, many cities all over the country celebrate with parades, some even locally. Parades not to far from Bel Air include York, PA, Ocean City, Baltimore, and D.C.

Even though blue was the color that was traditionally associated with Saint Patrick, green is now the commonly worn color. Many people see not wearing green on the holiday as bad luck and will pinch those who lack the color.

The known mascot of the holiday is the leprechaun, a tiny gingered haired man who wears a green suit. The leprechaun stems from Celtic beliefs. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns mended the shoes of fairies and were ill-tempered and known for their trickery which was told in order to protect their treasure: often gold.

The leprechaun’s gold is what inspires the modern gold chocolate coins that are now eaten and given out on the holiday.