St Patrick's Day Speeech

Tonight, I want to share with you just a little of the history of some of the traditions that go in hand with this much celebrated holiday. From how St Patrick's Day originated, to the huge parades and even the tradition of wearing O' the green.

The holiday itself is celebrated on March 17th, the anniversary of St Patrick's death in the 5th century.. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains kind of a mystery. Many of the stories told and associated with St. Patrick, including the famous story of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, just exaggerated storytelling. The Irish observe this day as a religious holiday and all families go to church that morning and soon afterÐ'... begin celebrating, drinking and dancing and feasting all afternoon on the ever famous corn beef & cabbage.

The 1st parade took place not in Ireland but right here in the U.S in New York City. The day was March 17, 1962. The parade itself was mostly Irish soldiers serving in the Military and was to help them connect with their Irish roots and fellow Irishmen serving in the army as well. To this day, New York is the most well known celebrated Irish parade with thousands of people in attendance.

Did you know that 34 million people claim to have Irish ancestry!? This number alone is 9 times the population in Ireland itself. Irish is the 2nd most frequently used ancestry, after German.

Today St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds. Some even as far as Japan, Singapore and Russia celebrate this well loved holiday as well.

In conclusion, this short speech has shown you a little bit of the traditions and celebrating that this holiday entails. I am proud to be part of such a rich Irish background and I hope you will hold your backgrounds