Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional date that Saint Patrick , the patron saint of Ireland died in 461 A.D.

Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, especially the Church of Ireland, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.

Saint Patrick was a Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about him comes from St. Patrick’s Confession, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. He was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy family. His father was a Christian deacon and his grandfather a priest. According to the Confession, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Confession says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.

According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity and that died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick.