You'll find a pair of paddy-inspired places of worship around Tampa Bay -- St. Patrick Catholic Churches in Largo and South Tampa.
The man who gave his name to these stoic sanctuaries is also the guy who inspired the raucous partying that spills out of pubs and into the streets every March 17th.
As a young man 1,500 years ago, Maewyn Succat had visions. They were inspired by his faith -- not by green beer.
One vision drove him to convert the people of Ireland to Catholicism. When he took his oath as a priest, he took a new name: Patrick.
The whole saint thing came later, after legend says he used a shamrock to teach the Holy Trinity and drove the snakes out of Ireland.
Funny thing. Ireland never had any snakes. None at all. It's probably a metaphor for chasing away pagan religions.
St. Patrick died in 461. Specifically, the story goes, he passed away on March 17th.
In Ireland, festivals celebrated him on that day. And the partying people were given a one-day break from the usually subdued religious season of Lent.
As Irish immigrants spread to other countries, traditions like St. Patrick's Day went along, too.
Why do they call it that? Now you know. PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY!
[SOURCE: www.wtsp.com Grayson Kamm 10 News, 2:08 p.m., March 16, 2011]
