St. Patrick, originally uploaded by jaqian
Top o' the mornin' to ye! Let's learn about Irish history. Wikipedia teaches us that Saint Patrick's given name was Maewyn Succat. I don't know how that changed to Patrick, though. Anyway, he had a pretty interesting life.
When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken from his native Wales as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family [...] he later returned to Ireland as a missionary [...] By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.
The important thing is that March 17 is a feast day in his honor. And that's why we break our Lenten fasts and drink lots of beer today, to commemorate the life of this saint.