WHY I REMEMBER PATRICK

St. Patrick's Day, or Paddy's Day as most of us now call it, is our National Holiday on March 17th. As children, my siblings and I loved to go into Cork city centre to watch the parade, wearing our St. Patrick's Day Badges as well as the Shamrock. We only got a little sprig of shamrock but my Dad used to wear a huge bush of the stuff (he still does). When our kids were small we used to bring them into the parade too and wave the Tricolour flags with them. Now they're teenagers and far too cool for that.

For most of us Paddy's day is a nice bank holiday, a day off, a time to wear green if you're so inspired. But for me, it goes a little deeper. I really like it that the national saint is someone who both in his Confession and his Epistle (his two authentic documents) clearly point to a man who had a personal relationship with Jesus. I mean, we could have had someone like St. Gobnait as our national saint, who only seemed concerned with turning ordinary water into holy water. Imagine that as a legacy to the Irish nation!

So, here's to Paddy's Day, and to the memory of someone who played no small part in the conversion of the Irish in his generation. May the Lord raise up more Patrick's for our generation. And, sorry if you're into St. Gobnait....but maybe you need to get a life?