The Wearing of the Green
A Canadian Saint Patrick's Day
The way in which Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated today seems rather silly to me, and has very little to do with Irish culture or who the Irish-Canadians really were.  Four leaf clovers, leprechauns, the blarney stone and Irish Sidhes, or fairies, are all a part of Irish Folklore, but overlook what it really means to be Irish.
It was very difficult to be an immigrant from the Emerald Isle throughout the Victorian Era, and though late in the period; greeting cards and postcards; pins, shamrocks and little green hats, could be purchased to promote your heritage; everyone was Irish on March 17; but the rest of the year your struggles continued.
St. Patrick
St. Patrick's Day is dedicated to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  Despite popular belief, he did not rid the island of snakes, but did convert many of the Irish people to Christianity.  But who exactly was he?

Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents, but at the age of sixteen, was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders,  who  took the young man back home with them to be engaged as a slave.  After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick managed to escape, and according to his writings; God spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.   This meant walking more than two hundred miles, but he eventually made it back to Britain.

Not long after, he experienced  a second dream, in which an angel instructed him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He spent the next fifteen years in Religious study, becoming a priest, and then fulfilling the angel's request.
He was already familiar with the Irish language and culture so instead of enforcing his own Christian beliefs, he incorporated them into the traditional rituals.  Since the Irish used to honour their gods with fire, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter and drew suns, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross. 

Though he was not the first Christian in Ireland, he became the most influential one, and since it is believed that he died on March 17, 460 CE; that day has been set aside as his Saint's Day.
An Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
in the palm of His hand.
Leprechauns
Most of us are familiar with the image of the leprechaun and "magically delicious", but how many know of their legend?

The word leprechaun is actually Gaelic for shoemaker, and these little guys were the shoemakers to the fairies, though more than two thousand years ago, they were mighty warriors.

The legend goes that an evil magician and his army conquered Ireland in a battle, and banished these warriors to live forever undergound.  Undaunted, they scratched and dug their way to surface, emerging as dwarf-like creatures who strongly resembled men. Some claim that they live inside a mountain, and their giant cave has a door that can only be opened by a magic word, spoken by the Leprechaun King.

Others believe they live in the roots of trees, or in hedgerows along the country lanes of Ireland.
But while many people may dispute where they live, few dispute that they do, even if just in fun; and for years they have been credited with playing tricks on those not so vertically challenged.  Now a few 'facts':

 - Most leprechauns live to be about three hundred years old, and the older they get, the more tricks they play.

- Leprechauns always dress in green frock coats that have seven silver buttons. Their trousers are black and the legs reach only to their knees where they are met by white knee-high stockings. Their shoes are black, have large silver buckles and the toes are said to curl upward. Their hats resemble a top hat and have a big silver buckle on the front, and they wear leather aprons because they are shoemakers.

 - Leprechauns spend their entire lives collecting and hoarding gold coins, which they keep in a large iron pot. No one knows where it’s kept but some people say it is at the end of the rainbow.

- If you’re ever lucky enough to catch a leprechaun, hold on to him tight, and do not take your eyes off of him even for a second. He may try to trick you into looking away, but, Beware! If you do, he will vanish.
- If you squeeze him real tight and hold on, he must give you his pot of gold in return for his freedom.

Many Irish people claim they have caught leprechauns but to this day, no one has ever collected the pot of gold, since the sly leprechauns always have a trick up their sleeves and use it to make their escape.

So, if you’re walking down an Irish lane and hear a tap-tap-tap, it is probably a leprechaun making fairy shoes.
Another Irish Blessing
May those who love us, love us;
And for those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts;
And if He can't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles,
So we will know them by their limping!
The Real Story
The first St. Patrick's Day parade in North America, is believed to have been held in Boston in 1737, though most claim that the first official one took place in New York City in 1762; by Irishmen serving in the English army.

With the influx of immigrants during the Potato Famine, Irish patriotism grew and St. Patrick's Day was celebrated with dancing, fiddles and bagpipes, depicted in newspaper cartoons as drunken, violent escapades.  Sadly, this was often true, but in some areas, like St. John, New Brunswick, there was a hidden agenda behind the raucous behaviour. 
Many of the Irish in New Brunswick hailed from the North where there was a strong resentment between the Protestants and Catholic, or the 'Orange' and the 'Green'; and the hostilities that culminated in Ireland, were brought with them to their new home. 
 
It began on May 25, 1795 , when a melee took place near a pub called
"Winter's Inn ", between the Protestant "Peep O Day" boys and the Roman Catholic "Defenders. "  The  Peep O Day boys were militant gangs who earned their name because of their custom of visiting Catholic houses at daybreak in search of arms.
My Irish Grandfather
To counter the attacks, some of the young Catholic men formed their own gangs, known as the Defenders, or "The Ribbonmen:" On the fateful night,  the Protestant faction met in the nearby village of Loughgall and formed an even larger organization intended to combat the new Catholic threat, which
became known as the "Orange" in honour of King William of Orange, and adopted the Orange lily as their emblem.  The Order spread rapidly and soon formed a power base throughout Ulster and into the rest of Ireland, eventually reaching New Brunswick, where it enjoyed a similar growth.  The members came from all walks of life, their common bond being anti-Catholocism.
Open violence between the "Orange" and "Green" usually happened on  St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and the "Glorious Twelfth,"  (July 12) the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, when William of Orange defeated King James in 1690. 
By 1845, tensions culminated in a St. Patrick's Day Riot that was the worst to date.  A group of Orangemen fired on a group of Irish revellers who were celebrating the day, resulting in a all-out war,  Several Catholics were killed but an all-Protestant Grand Jury dismissed any charges of wrong doing against their own, but several Irish Catholics, were found guilty and thrown into prison.

Two years later, on  July 12, 1847; they retaliated, during one of the largest parades in Saint John, since the inception of the Orange Order, and many from outside lodges had been invited to march.  The parade itself was peaceful enough, but in the early evening a large number of Orangemen, who had gathered at the Mechanic's Institute, were led by a marching band in procession through the streets of Portland and across the bridge into the heart of the Catholic section of York Point; singing offensive songs.
At the foot of Dock Street the enraged Irish Catholics attacked the procession with sticks and bricks, smashed many of the band instruments, and forced the Orangemen back across the bridge. However, by now crowds had gathered on both sides; shots were exchanged; and the wounded cluttered the route of march. The bloody skirmishes continued throughout the year, and a wave of assaults and murders swept through Saint John and Portland.
In New Brunswick Notes for Emigrants, written by Abraham Gesner in 1845, he advised:  "But we must here contrast the pleasures enjoyed by the rational part of the community with the outrages committed by the lower classes at St. John, in defiance of the authorities and the laws of the land. In this city, the seat of much natural sobriety, there are frequently mobs and riots of appalling magnitude. These chiefly originate among the lower classes of the Irish, who are organised as Orangemen or Ribbonmen, and the display of an orange-coloured flower is sufficient to raise a tumult. From time to time, mobs and riots occur that are disgraceful to a civilised country. Upon any outbreak, thousands of both parties assemble with bludgeons, and even fire-arms, and, before the riot can be quelled, lives have been sacrificed on the unholy altar of party strife."
Despite the warning, on July 12, 1849; it was announced that an even larger march was planned to celebrate the "Glorious Twelfth"  and though the mayor begged that it be cancelled, well armed members began boarding steamers and carriages, as the Irish Catholics gathered arms and ammunition.

The planned route included York Point and as the marchers entered the district they were met with a hanging arch of green boughs, and the roofs of nearby shanties were crowded with men and boys, armed with baskets of stones and bricks.  Several shots were exchanged, resulting in 12 dead, mostly Catholic; but fortunately, this would be the last major outbreak of it's kind in the city; partly because the resulting arrests were more impartial and men from both sides were charged.
Similar confrontations took place across the country, but in most areas the Irish fought against British domination, so presented a more unified front.   On a more positive note in Durham Township, Ontario, in the early days when religious feeling ran high, prejudices were set aside for a day.  The Orangemen of that district were known as the "Cavan Blazers" and had many a run-in with the Roman Catholics in the surrounding area.  However, when the only Roman Catholic settler in Cavan took sick at harvest time, the "Blazers" came secretly and harvested his crops for him, to prevent his suffering a loss for the season. (Pioneer Days in Upper Canada, Edwing C. Guillet 1933)

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by all Irish, even those only Irish for a day, and the green shamrock with an orange ribbon seems more fitting as a representation, since, like the Blazers of Cavan,  we are all Irish first!
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