March 17th is celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day and many people prefer to have a flavor of Irish food in their main course this day. People preferred to have corned beef and cabbage recipe on this day. Though people celebrate the holiday with fun and celebration, many people hardly know the significance of St. Patrick’s Day.
The idea of St. Patrick’s Day was conceived in Ireland in the 5th century. At that time, the idea was an observance of Roman Catholic by humbly paying homage to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Keeping in tune with the homage style of celebrations, the pubs in Ireland were closed till 1970 on the St. Patrick day. Irish history states that it was on this day that St. Patrick died.
The event was brought to America by the Irish immigrants who migrated in large numbers after the famous Irish famine in 1850. But the first St Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Boston and that was in the year 1737. In New York, the first celebrations were held in 1756. The initial celebrations did not see any parades.
The first St Patrick’s Day parade was held in Manhattan in 1762 which saw Irish soldiers working in the English military walked through the streets of New York. The collective nature of the parade helped the soldiers remember their Irish roots. With evolution of time, St Patrick Day has evolved as a celebration of Irish culture maintaining the status of a Christian Holy Day.
People gather on this day to have a meal with corned beef and cabbage, while not knowing the fact that corned beef is not initially an Irish dish. Corned beef became only a part of St Patrick’s Day tradition only after Irish American immigrants replaced it with their traditional Irish Bacon or salted pork which is served boiled with potatoes and cabbage.
