Little authentic information regarding the ancient Celts’ priestly caste, better known to the world as the Druids, has survived to the modern age. The mysterious segment of the Celtic hierarchy is thought to have first arrived in the British Isles, along with the rest of their people, between the 5th and 6th centuries BC.
Following the Roman occupation of Britain, however, the Druids’ predilection for outlandish rituals soon drew the ire of the Empire and the Emperor Claudius had the sect outlawed in AD 43. The final blow came during the battle that followed that decree, when a battalion of sixty Roman troops assaulted a Druid outpost on the island of Mona. No quarter was given and the majority of the Druid population – men and women alike – was wiped out, their sacred meeting groves razed in the aftermath. 
The fact that the Druids conducted their rituals in sacred groves and arbors, and not stone circles, rules out their long-suspected connections to the monoliths at Stonehenge. That notion was the product of an 18th century outsider cleric, Dr. William Stukeley, who theorized that the Druidic sect was the direct forbearer of a pure British religion – later to be embodied, in his view, by the Church of England.
One of America’s biggest holidays, St. Patrick’s Day is not the most important day on the Irish calendar. Boiled pork and cabbage becomes corned beef and cabbage when it crosses the ocean and the concept of ‘little people’ becomes a breakfast cereal celebrity once it hit American shores.
So how did the remembrances of Irish Americans become the March madness of a diverse immigrant nation? How did the story of Ireland’s patron saint develop into a drinking fest to rival any German get together? The history of the Irish people is fraught with conflict, persecution, determination and strength and these qualities are best known in the story of a rich boy turned slave turned Catholic priest and eventually, Ireland’s patron saint.
Patrick was born Patricius in Wales during Roman rule, approximately 1, 500 years ago. This young Welshman had little religious faith, came from a good family and lived an easy life. Until of course he was kidnapped at the age of 17 by slave traders and taken by boat to ancient Ireland. Patrick’s life became that of a shepherd as he tended sheep for his master in the hills of county Antrim. County Antrim is in Ireland’s north and is the same county where the city of Belfast is located today.
After several years in Antrim, Patrick claimed to hear voices telling him to escape which he did returning to Wales for a brief time. But the voices in his head would not stop and Patrick consulted a priest. The priest told him the voice he heard was that of God and Patrick had been called to the Catholic faith.
Patrick then traveled to France to be properly trained in the Catholic faith. Returning to Ireland a few years later as a freeman, Patrick preached the gospel and allegedly converted many of the ancient Celts to the Roman Catholic religion. He also advocated for an end to slavery but it would be centuries before the Christian world agreed with him.
Over time, Patrick would become the bishop of a converted Ireland, punctuating the emerald landscape with monasteries. During the middle ages, it was these monasteries and ones like them across Europe that would preserve language and literature during the upheaval of the dark ages. It is believed that the Celtic cross also stems from Patrick’s efforts as he took a traditional Celtic religious symbol of the sun and added it to the Christian cross to show the connection to potential converts.
Other symbols celebrated on March 17 (the date of Patrick’s death) such as the shamrock were often thought to be from Patrick’s influence. The myth that he used the shamrock to teach the Catholic trinity, the belief that he scared all the snakes out of Ireland and the idea of leprechauns as symbols of the day are not true. Leprechauns came from a 1959 American movie, snakes are an ancient Celtic symbol and the shamrock was worn as a symbol of Irish nationalism not of Catholic belief. What Patrick did was provide a legend and a symbol of Ireland that carried across the oceans to the new world.
Celtic Replicas
Isle of Lewis Celtic Chess Set (board and pieces)
Celtic Sun Cross
Celtic Bronze Sword
Celtic Crucifix of Athlone
Celebrated in the Americas for centuries, St. Patrick ’s Day reminds the country of its immigrant roots and diversity of belief. It also reminds us that whether Irish or not, everyone can come together once a year to remember an historic figure who escaped from slavery, spread a religion and gave an excuse for green colored alcohol.
Tags: America, Anicent Rome, Antrim, Catholic, Catholic trinity, Celtic, Celtic Bronze Sword, celtic cross, Celtic Crucifix of Athlone, Celtic religious symbol of the sun, Celtic Replicas, Celtic Sun Cross, Celts, conversion of ancient celts by St. Patrick, Druids, history of St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland, Ireland’s patron saint, Irish American history, Isle of Lewis Celtic Chess Set (board and pieces), Leprechauns, March 17th, middle ages, Patricius, Romans, shamrocks, snakes, St. patrick, St. Patrick’s Day history, St. Patrick’s Day origins
At the turn of the 1600’s the dress of the Scottish Highlander entered the inventory of costume history in the west in early descriptions of the belted plaid worn by the rugged Scotsman. The kilt as it is known today is a derivation of the first pleated mantles used by Highlanders as a functional garment, foremost, that came to encapsule a singular fashion. 
The large mantle made of wool, often in a tartan/plaid pattern, was called “big wrap” (feileadh mor in Highland Gaelic) and consisted of about 4 to 5 yards of fabric in length and about 2 yards in width, a bulk of fabric that would be wrapped and gathered to afford maximum warmth and versatility of wear. The cloth would be held in at the waist with a belt (the garment also was referred to as a belted plaid) and the excess fabric above and below would be pleated and gathered to shape a skirt-like bottom and a wrap-around top. The weave of the hand-woven fabric would often be of multiple colors (tartan) with the more colorful, brash, plaids denoting status or distinction. Plain browns or greens would also be used in the feileadh mor piece and were appreciated as a kind of camouflage for the Highlander from the heathlands where the landscape consisted of dry, browned vegetation.
