Links to
St. Patrick's Day Pages:
Lyrics to Background Music:
Danny Boy

Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes... the pipes are calling,
From glen to glen and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone and all the flowers are dying,
‘Tis you, ‘tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back, when summer's in the meadow,
And when the valley's hushed and white with snow.
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, Oh, Danny Boy, I love you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be.
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be.
And you will bend, and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

Arrangement by Frank Lennon
Midi Files at www.socc.ie/~midiclass

flennon@indigo.ie
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Who Was St. Patrick?

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born
in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the
job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age,
he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village.
During his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied
in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of
twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was
to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to
Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two
years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that
Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset
the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped
each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries
across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid
him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time,
Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461.
That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day.
Not much of it is actually substantiated.

Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from
the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove
all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to
Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion
of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day,
St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock.  This stems from a
more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed
shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent
how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate
elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom
of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737.
That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated
in this country, in Boston.