Главная ⇒ 📕English topics ⇒ St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day

Some biographical facts

Saint Patrick is one of the symbols of Ireland, in fact, he is considered the man who drew the country to Christianity. And he did it almost bloodless. The Irish began to celebrate the day of his death ( March 17) as a national holiday since the X or XI century, and during this time many legends and fables appeared, and it’s celebration became rather fun ritual. The man we know as St. Patrick was actually born not in Ireland but in Britain, his real name is Mevin Sukkat. He was not Irish but British. His father came from a rich Roman family. In his youth Mevin didn’t show much interest in religion, but everything changed when he was 16. At this age, he was captured by Irish pirates and sent into slavery by the leader of one of the Irish clans. For six years Mevin was a shepherd, at this time he went to God and earnestly prayed day and night. According to legend God helped him to escape from captivity and return home.

Activities in Ireland

Mevin

went to Gaul to learn there in the monasteries after his return. According to legend, while in Gaul he had a vision in which he was ordered to sail to Ireland, in order to turn its population to Christianity. In Gaul Mevin was ordained bishop and given the name Patritsius. Curiously, at that time in Ireland lived a number of Christians and they needed a management bishop. Originally St. Patrick was met not too welcome, but further everything turned much better. The ability of St. Patrick to convince, knowledge of Irish traditions, and language skills played the great role in it.

Legends associated with the name of St. Patrick

There are several miracles connected with the name of St. Patrick. For example a man raised his sword, stood rooted to the spot until he became more friendly; the Easter fire that Patrick lit stayed on, despite all efforts of the Druids. The exile of snakes from the territory of the island was a miracle too. Another legend associated with the symbol of this day — a shamrock, it is believed that Patrick used it to convey the people the essence of the Trinity: God is one

in three persons as well as the three leaf clover growing on one stalk.

Leprechauns are the funny St. Patrick’s Day companions. They are the small fairy creatures that sew shoes for other mythical creatures. Leprechauns conceal somewhere their pot with treasure. Someone who will catch them, leprechaun must tell where the treasure is stored. Indispensable action of this day is a street parade, which is attended by orchestras and people in original and funny costumes. There is a tradition to paint ponds green in some American cities.

(1 votes, average: 5,00 out of 5)

My Best Friend No doubt, everyone dreams of having a true and faithful friend but not all of us are lucky enough to find one. Frankly speaking, I’m rather sociable, that’s why I...
Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde is one of the most interesting representatives of British literature. He was born in 1856 in Irish family. His father was an optician, an author of some books...
Alexander Bell Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1847 in a family interested in the problems of speech. Both his father and his grandfather had studied the mechanics of a...
Turkey Turkey is a very beautiful, historical, and interesting country with many ancient attractions. The culture of Turkey takes its roots from the Ottoman Empire. Straddling many countries, Turkey is the...
Rostov-on-Don My native city is Rostov-on-Don. It is the capital of the Don area. It was founded in 1749. It is situated on the right bank of the river Don. In...
The History of Nuclear Bomb Creation — История создания ядерной бомбы The first nuclear weapons were created by the United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom and Canada, during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. While...
The Russian Federation The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometers. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia is...
My Favourite Subject Speaking about my favourite subject I must admit that I was privileged to study at a school where the English language was taught since the first form. It wasn’t a...
The House of My Dream — Дом моей мечты Every person has his own idea of a perfect house. Since the time immemorial people always wanted to make their dwelling a place, where one feels comfortable and cosy, where...
London (4) London is the British capital and one of the biggest cities in the world. The oldest part of London is called the City. It is small, but it is very...
Oxford — the University Town This university town is very beautiful. The oldest university there is Oxford. The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university now has thirty-five colleges and about thirteen...
Constitution of Ukraine — Конституция Украины The Constitution is the main law of each state. Each state enters into the Constitution the principles, according to which it lives. That’s why the Constitution is an integral part...
Isaac Newton — Исаак Ньютон Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all times was born in 1642 in the little village in Lincolnshire, England. His father was a farmer and died before Newton was...
A Question of Taste. Fashion Fashion is something we deal with every day. Even people, who say they don’t care what they wear, choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how...
My Working Day — Мой рабочий день (3) I want to say that all weekdays except weekends look very much the same. On weekdays the alarm clock wakes me up at about 7 o’clock and my working day...
Commonwealth of Independent States — Содружество Независимых Государств The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation, or alliance, created by Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia. Up to 2005 it consisted of 11 former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,...
Environmental Pollution — Загрязнение окружающей среды People have always polluted their surroundings. But until now pollution was not such a serious problem. People lived in uncrowned rural areas and did not have pollution — causing machines....
A (Very) Brief History of the English Language Content: Indo-European and Germanic Influences Old English (500-1100 AD) The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500) Early-Modern English (1500-1800) Late-Modern English (1800-Present) American English Indo-European and Germanic Influences English is...
Holidays in the USA — Праздники в США There are a lot of holidays in the USA. Many of them are associated with the history of the nation. There are also some holidays that have come from the...
Women — Женщины Fat women with flabby, double chins. Moon-faced, pop-eyed women in little flat hats. Women with starchy faces and thin vermilion lips. Man-shy, suspicious women, shrinking into their clothes every time...
Education in Britain — Образование в Британии In England and Wales compulsory school begins at the age of five, but before that age children can go to a nursery school, also called play school. School is compulsory...
The History of St. Petersburg — История Санкт-Петербурга Peter the Great founded the city as St. Petersburg in 1703. He had visited Western Europe and wanted to bring Western culture and technology to Russia. He made St. Petersburg...
Isaac Newton — the Great English Scientist Isaac Newton was a great English scientist. He was born in 1642 in a little village in Lincolnshire: Newton’s father was a farmer and died before his son’s birth. When...
My Favourite Room — Моя любимая комната (2) We live in a new 16-storeyed block of flats. It’s situated in a very picturesque place. There’s a big supermarket on the ground floor and it’s very convenient to do...
Hotels (upper intermediate) It`s a well known fact that hotels nowadays play a big role. Every year more and more new hotels are opened. Sometimes it is even difficult to decide which to...
Moscow — Москва (1) The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow. It is one of the largest cities in the world. More than 8.75 million people live in Moscow. Moscow is the cultural,...
Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean in the world, with the area of around 70,000,000 sq mi (181,300,000 sq km), occupying about one third of the earth’s surface;...
Subculture Today the life of many young people in Russia as well as in other countries of the world is influenced by popular culture. The young follow certain stereotypes that are...
London (7) London has been home of many famous Englishmen. Some were born there. Some lived there all their lives. Others lived in London only for a short time but all gave...
Mother’s Day — День матери Mother’s Day comes on the second Sunday in May. It is a day when Americans honour their mothers. It is not a national holiday. Mother’s Day is an American national...
Northern Ireland (2) Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, is still a part of the United Kingdom. It is made up of six countries: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Tyrone. One third of...
New Zealand — Новая Зеландия (2) The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907. It supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand is a group of islands in the...
Sports — Спорт (2) 1). They say, «Health is above wealth». 2). Thousands of people consider sports to be very helpful in gaining good health. 3). That’s why every country pays much attention to...
My Favourite TV Program The most popular entertainment in our home life is television. We have a choice between five channels: First Channel, Russia and 3 commercial channels. There is also a cable TV...
English Overseas — Английский язык за границей English Overseas Geographically, English Is the most widespread language on the Earth, second only to Mandarin Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is the language of...
The Subjects We Do at School. My Favourite Subject. — Предметы, которые мы изучаем в школе. Мой любимый предмет (1) We did quite a lot of subjects at school. They were: Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Russian Literature, Chemistry, English, History of this country and many other subjects. It was rather difficult...
My Plans for the Future — Мои планы на будущее I think that one of the most difficult things is to plan one’s own future. But a person may suppose what he or she would like to do in the...
Climate and Natural Resources — Климат и природные ресурсы The United States of America is a very diverse country. Its nature, climate, population varies from the East Coast to the west, from the northern border to the southern. Climate...
Why Do We Learn the English Language — Зачем мы изучаем английский язык (1) I am sure, in order to have a good job one should know foreign languages. The most widespread languages in the world are Chinese, Spanish, English and some others. But...
Friendship and my best friend According to the dictionary friendship is a feeling and behaviour that exist between people, but what these feelings are and what this behaviour is everyone should decide for himself. I...