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Lent
St. Patrick, Bishop of Ireland
Also called: Lá Fhéile Pádraig (Irish), National Day of Ireland
March 17 (fixed)
CatholicAnglicanLutheranAll Christians
St Patrick's Day on 17 March celebrates the missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland — famously explaining the Trinity with a shamrock. What started as a church feast is now a global party with parades, green everything, and Irish culture on display from Dublin to New York.
Lent fasting rules are traditionally relaxed in Ireland for the day. Eden lists pilgrimages to Ireland, Iona, and Celtic Christian sites across the UK.
At a glance
- Type
- national feast
- Date type
- Fixed (same date every year)
- Regions
- Global
- Themes
- Saints & Martyrs, Church History, Mission
- Liturgical colour
- White, Green
Common questions
St. Patrick, Bishop of Ireland is observed on March 17 (fixed). Moveable feasts shift each year; fixed feasts stay on the same calendar date.
The feast of St. Patrick (c. 385–461), Patron Saint of Ireland, who was captured by Irish raiders as a teenager, escaped, returned as a missionary, and is credited with Christianizing Ireland. St. Patrick's Day is simultaneously a feast day and the national day of Ireland, observed with parades, the wearing of shamrocks (the Trinity symbol Patrick used), and Masses. Lenten fast restrictions are tr
It is associated with Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, All Christians. It falls in the Lent season of the liturgical year.