Changes

As Ireland's best-known saint, Patrick became a contested figure during the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, with various factions trying to use him to validate their claims. Protestants and Catholics both claimed him as the founder of their church in Ireland. Catholics leaders also had to revise the traditional image of Patrick as a miracle-working, Moses-like prophet in order to remake him into the model of a devout pastor administering sacraments and encouraging repentance for sins. By the middle of the 17th century he was firmly established as the founder of Catholicism in Ireland. By 1800 Protestants in Ireland had also adopted him.

As Ireland's best-known saint, Patrick became a contested figure during the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, with various factions trying to use him to validate their claims. Protestants and Catholics both claimed him as the founder of their church in Ireland. Catholics leaders also had to revise the traditional image of Patrick as a miracle-working, Moses-like prophet in order to remake him into the model of a devout pastor administering sacraments and encouraging repentance for sins. By the middle of the 17th century he was firmly established as the founder of Catholicism in Ireland. By 1800 Protestants in Ireland had also adopted him.

In the United States Irish Catholics made St. Patrick's Day (March 17) an occasion for major celebrations. Today it is widely appreciated as a day for watching parades, drinking salutes and the wearing of the green.

Saint Patrick's Day commemorates the feast day of Saint Patrick and the arrival of [[Christianity in Ireland]].<ref name=Arrival of Christianity in Ireland>{{cite book|title=Tourism, Consumption & Representation|publisher=[[CAB International]]|author=Kevin Meethan, Alison Anderson, Steven Miles|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> The day is generally characterised by the attendance of [[church service]]s,<ref name=Irish Culture 5>{{cite book|title=Shamrocks, Harps, and Shillelaghs: The Story of the St. Patrick's Day Symbols|publisher=Sandpiper|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=7FleEqDJZD8C&pg=PA7&dq=patricks+day+church&hl=en&ei=wTmCTePLF8yL0QGh4u3ICA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=For most Irish-Americans, this holiday is partly religious and partly festive. St. Patrick's Day church services are followed by parades and parties, Irish music, songs, and dances.|author=Edna Barth|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 1>{{cite book|title=Circles of Tradition: Folk Arts in Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OstE2fueRvcC&pg=PA52&dq=patricks+day+celebration+of+irish+culture+religious&hl=en&ei=rsCBTZ7pDLKN0QHX2NngCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=patricks%20day%20celebration%20of%20irish%20culture%20religious&f=false|quote=In nineteenth-century America it became a celebration of Irishness more than a religious occasion, though attending Mass continues as an essential part of the day.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> wearing of green attire (especially [[shamrock]]s),<ref name=Irish Culture 2>{{cite book|title=Circles of Tradition: Folk Arts in Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OstE2fueRvcC&pg=PA52&dq=patricks+day+celebration+of+irish+culture+religious&hl=en&ei=rsCBTZ7pDLKN0QHX2NngCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=patricks%20day%20celebration%20of%20irish%20culture%20religious&f=false|quote=The religious occasion did involve the wearing of shamrocks, an Irish symbol of the Holy Trinity, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on drinking.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> and the lifting of [[Lenten]] restrictions on [[Fasting#Christianity|eating]] and [[Christianity and alcohol|drinking alcohol]],<ref name=Irish Culture 3>{{cite book|title=Multiculturalism's Double-Bind|author=John Nagle|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zqMCc37dW1kC&pg=PA118&dq=St.+Patricks+Day+lent&hl=en&ei=IMWBTezGJqy60QGy7bjFCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Like many other forms of carnival, St. Patrick's Day is a feast day, a break from Lent in which adherents are allowed to temporarily abandon rigorous fasting by indulging in the forbidden. Since alcohol is often proscribed during Lent the copious consumption of alcohol is seen as an integral part of St. Patrick's day.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 4>{{cite book|title=Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America|author=James Terence Fisher|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=voeg2IjM4YAC&pg=PA88&dq=st.+patrick's+day+lent&hl=en&ei=l8iBTc_SHPKM0QGY3-XOCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=dispensation&f=false|quote=The 40-day period (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter is known as Lent, a time of prayer and fasting. Pastors of Irish- American parishes often supplied "dispensations" for St. Patrick s Day, enabling parishioners to forego Lenten sacrifices in order to celebrate the feast of their patron saint.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 2>{{cite book|title=Circles of Tradition: Folk Arts in Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OstE2fueRvcC&pg=PA52&dq=patricks+day+celebration+of+irish+culture+religious&hl=en&ei=rsCBTZ7pDLKN0QHX2NngCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=patricks%20day%20celebration%20of%20irish%20culture%20religious&f=false|quote=The religious occasion did involve the wearing of shamrocks, an Irish symbol of the Holy Trinity, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on drinking.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> which is often proscribed during the rest of the [[liturgical year|season]].<ref name=Irish Culture 3>{{cite book|title=Multiculturalism's Double-Bind|author=John Nagle|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zqMCc37dW1kC&pg=PA118&dq=St.+Patricks+Day+lent&hl=en&ei=IMWBTezGJqy60QGy7bjFCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Like many other forms of carnival, St. Patrick's Day is a feast day, a break from Lent in which adherents are allowed to temporarily abandon rigorous fasting by indulging in the forbidden. Since alcohol is often proscribed during Lent the copious consumption of alcohol is seen as an integral part of St. Patrick's day.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 4>{{cite book|title=Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America|author=James Terence Fisher|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=voeg2IjM4YAC&pg=PA88&dq=st.+patrick's+day+lent&hl=en&ei=l8iBTc_SHPKM0QGY3-XOCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=dispensation&f=false|quote=The 40-day period (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter is known as Lent, a time of prayer and fasting. Pastors of Irish- American parishes often supplied "dispensations" for St. Patrick s Day, enabling parishioners to forego Lenten sacrifices in order to celebrate the feast of their patron saint.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 2>{{cite book|title=Circles of Tradition: Folk Arts in Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OstE2fueRvcC&pg=PA52&dq=patricks+day+celebration+of+irish+culture+religious&hl=en&ei=rsCBTZ7pDLKN0QHX2NngCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=patricks%20day%20celebration%20of%20irish%20culture%20religious&f=false|quote=The religious occasion did involve the wearing of shamrocks, an Irish symbol of the Holy Trinity, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on drinking.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Irish Culture 1>{{cite book|title=Circles of Tradition: Folk Arts in Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OstE2fueRvcC&pg=PA52&dq=patricks+day+celebration+of+irish+culture+religious&hl=en&ei=rsCBTZ7pDLKN0QHX2NngCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=patricks%20day%20celebration%20of%20irish%20culture%20religious&f=false|quote=In nineteenth-century America it became a celebration of Irishness more than a religious occasion, though attending Mass continues as an essential part of the day.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref>

==Further reading==

==Further reading==