A small group of local citizens crossed Charleston Harbor, landed at Castle Pinckney and hoisted the Flag of Ireland over the site on Thursday to recognize St. Patrick’s Day, which will be celebrated on March 17. The religious and cultural holiday is held every year on the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day became an official Christian feast day — “the Feast of Saint Patrick” — in the early 17th century. The celebration commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and the heritage and culture of the Irish.

The Flag of Ireland Flies over Castle Pinckney

Saint Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. In fact, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries, including the United States, than any other national festival.

The national flag of Ireland, often called “the tricolour” in Ireland and “the Irish tricolour” elsewhere, has three colored pales — green, white and orange. The green pale of the flag represents Roman Catholics, the orange pale represents Protestants who supported William of Orange, and the white pale in the center signifies a lasting peace and hope for union between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. The Irish tricolour flag was designed in 1848, and regarded as the national flag of Ireland by 1916. The flag was then adopted by the Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence (1919 – 1921), and given constitutional status in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.