Welcome, all my friends, to the Saint Patrick's Day Celebration here at Penney's Place! You will find many fun and interesting things to do here, and I hope you will all enjoy yourselves while you are here.

A Wee Bit o' History

How did March 17th become the feast day of Saint Patrick? Time for a little history lesson!

Saint Patrick was not actually Irish. Historical sources report that he was born around 373 A.D. in either Scotland (near the town of Dumbarton) or in Roman Britain (the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D.). His real name is believed to be Maewyn Succat (he took on Patrick, or Patricus, after he became a priest). He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland (I am not making this up). During his 6-year captivity (he worked as a shepherd), he began to have religious visions, and found strength in his faith. He finally escaped (after voices in one of his visions told him where he could find a getaway ship) and went to France, where he became a priest (and later a bishop).

When he was about 60 years old, St. Patrick traveled to Ireland to spread the Christian word. It's said that Patrick had an unusually winning personality, and that helped him win converts. He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Trinity (father, son, holy spirit).

Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland -- that they all went into the sea and drowned. Poor snakes. I don't know why he would want to do this, except that the snake was a revered pagan symbol, and perhaps this was a figurative tale alluding to the fact that he drove paganism out of Ireland.

So... how did shamrocks and leprechauns with their pots of gold come to be associated with Saint Patrick's Day? Well, the shamrock is the national flower of Ireland, and as St. Paddy's is an Irish holiday, the shamrock's role just comes naturally. As for Leprechauns, they are the self-appointed guardians of ancient treasure that was left by the Danes when they marauded through Ireland. The wee ones bury their treasure in crocks or pots. If caught by a mortal, he will promise great wealth if allowed to go free. A Leprechaun carries two leather pouches. In one is a silver shilling, a magical coin that returns to his purse each time it is
paid out. In the other pouch, he carries a bright gold coin. This coin turns to leaves or ashes once the Leprechaun has parted with it!

Okay, so enough of the dull stuff! Let's have some fun!

St. Paddy's Tic-Tac-Toe      Matching Shamrocks     Catch the Leprechaun

St. Paddy's Jigsaw Puzzle     St. Paddy's Maze

Great St. Paddy's Day Adoptions

Want a cute little limited edition Purp Bean like this one? Check out Billy Bear's Adoption center by clicking on the adoption certificate below.

Or maybe you'd like this adorable St. Patrick's Day Unicorn?

You can grab him up from Toto's Graphics.

Catch a Lucky Leprechaun at SuzieQ's!

Or maybe you'd like to pick up a few St. Pat's blinkies from Simply Graphics...

Now we have come to the piece de resistance of the St. Patrick's Day Celebration here at Penney's Place, our annual Leprechaun Hunt! Somewhere on one of the many pages of Penney's Place, you will find this little guy:

When you do, just click on the graphic, and you'll be taken to a form to submit your name and e-mail address for a drawing that will be held on March 18th. If your name is drawn, you will be the proud winner of a  gift certificate from Webcertificate, the only virtual gift certificate that lets you shop anywhere on line!. That's all there is to it! So start clicking on my main page at Penney's Place, and you may be the lucky winner. By the way, it ain't the little fella above....*giggle*

My Quilt for Saint Patrick's Day, 2003     My Gifts for St. Patrick's Day, 2003

Still not enough green for you? How about visiting some of the other great Saint Patrick's Day pages listed below?

O'Riley's St. Pat's Celebration     Ashley     Tina Kay     Grammy J