The Shamrock’s Symbolism: Voice Of The Township
On Monday, March 17th you may see many people wearing green. Is it a celebration of the coming spring (which begins the following Thursday, March 20th), or is it in recognition of Saint Patrick’s Day, a holiday celebrated by the many descendants of Irish immigrants in the United States? After all, about 12% of the population or over 38 million Americans claim full or partial Irish ancestry, according to the 2020 census. And in Ireland, March 17th is a national holiday and a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church. Maybe all that ‘wearing of the green’—the color of hope—is an expression of both: springtime and loyalty to ‘the old country.’
Who was Saint Patrick whose feast day we celebrate on March 17th? Patrick lived around the time of the fifth century, over 1500 years ago. According to his “Confession” which is believed to have been written by the Saint himself, Patrick grew up, not in Ireland but in the colony of Roman Great Britain. His father was a senator and a religious deacon, and his grandfather was a priest, but Patrick was not religious; he writes that he considered himself to be “idle and callow” in his youth. When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland where he was enslaved and made to work as a sheep herder. During his captivity Patrick lived among the Irish people, learning their language and their ways. Patrick writes in the Confession that this period in captivity was critical to his spiritual development. He felt that God had mercy on his youth and ignorance, forgave his sins and gave Patrick the chance to grow in his faith through all of the praying he did during his captivity.
Patrick wanted to return home, and after six years he did, in fact, escape and returned to Great Britain. There he studied for the priesthood and eventually became a bishop. At this point, he asked to be sent back to Ireland, back to the land of his captivity. The church agreed to his request and sent him there where he traveled around Ireland creating missions, evangelizing the people, and converting the country to Christianity. He died at about the age of 75 on March 17th the day that would from that point forward be honored as St. Patrick’s Day.
Legend has it that in his preaching St Patrick used the shamrock (from seamróg, Irish for ‘young clover’) to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Over time, the shamrock became more than a religious sign; it came to be seen as a symbol of Ireland; of Irish nationalism and independence. And its color, green, soon took on the same meaning. Towards the end of the 18th century, the rebels known as the United Irishmen adopted green as their official color as they planned their insurrection against British rule.
Today the celebrants of St. Patrick’s Day wear green to show their loyalty to Ireland. But this was not always politically correct, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries ‘across the water.’ The traditional Irish nationalist song, “The Wearing of the Green” recounts the lengths the British were prepared to go to in their attempt to suppress Irish nationalism.
The British authorities began to see the color green as a dangerous symbol that could rally Irish nationalist fervor, and they wanted to stamp out such displays of Irish identity and independence. They banned people from wearing green as an open symbol of their Irish identity. Irish newspapers published notices stating that wearing such items as green ribbons or handkerchiefs as “an emblem of affection to Ireland” were forbidden, a move seen by the Irish as both outrageous and ridiculous. In “The Wearing of the Green” the opening verse conjures up their sense of absurdity with the line “the shamrock is forbidden by law to grow on Irish ground.” And as the song’s refrain reports: “They’re hanging men and women for the Wearing of the Green.”
So, this is a good song to learn if you want to impress your friends with your knowledge of why so many of us are wearing green on the 17th of March. It’s the color of hope in more ways than one.
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