2016-03-17 Thu

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17th March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick. St. Patrick, also called the Apostle of Ireland, along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, is one of the world's most popular saints.

St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated by the Irish since the 9th Century and every year there is a local parade in almost every town in Ireland. Today this day is celebrated all over the world with particularly big parades in the United States, Britain, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. On this day, millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer and watch parades!

Countless legends have grown around St. Patrick making him the patron saint of Ireland. He is said to have baptized hundreds of people in a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover – the famous shamrock – to describe the Holy Trinity.

Ireland, in 1937, issued a stamp depicting St. Patrick and Paschal Fire. Further, in 1961, issued another stamp commemorating the 1500th death anniversary of St. Patrick. On 28th February 2003, the Irish Post Office honoured Saint Patrick with a set of three stamps, the classical portrait of the saint himself, and two views of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City in front of the cathedral named for him.

According to legend, Saint Patrick used the three leaves of the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. And this ‘Shamrock’ is also depicted on an Irish stamp of 75c issued in 2007. To know about the recent stamp click here.