Annual Essay Contest
“The Meaning of St. Patrick’s Day”
Essay Contest for Georgia High School Students
2012 Essay Contest Winner
Shirley Wang with Dr. Flannery
Beneath the Shamrock Green of America
Shirley Wang
Stores are stocked with rows and rows of shamrock‐green merchandise, ranging from shimmering emerald necklaces to bowler hats. School halls are filled with the unmistakable flash of shamrock green among the students. Shamrocks, green shamrocks. Only one holiday comes to mind: St. Patrick’s Day. When we were little elementary school students parading around the jungle gyms, or hectic kindergarteners learning the ABCs, we probably thought of St. Patrick’s day as the day when the devious small leprechauns would appear with their pots of gold, and, if we were lucky enough, we would be able to catch one of them and claim our prize. Of course, our beliefs were not unfounded; many television shows broadcast St. Patrick’s day special cartoons involving these little humanoid creatures decked out in a green top hat and a green suit sprinting about, feverishly running to escape covetous human eyes. But as we get older, these mystical creatures become just another fairytale, and the side of St. Patrick’s Day devoid of pots of gold and leprechauns becomes clearer—or does it?
Walk through any school on St. Patrick’s Day, and you will find tinges of green here and there. You will definitely spot a few shamrocks. Of course, these schools aren’t just American schools. Or Irish schools. Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Russia are just a few of the many countries sharing the St. Patrick’s Day spirit. So, why have so many people gathered to celebrate this holiday? It is not a holiday like Christmas, where people all over the world exchange gifts with loved ones. It is not a holiday like New Years, where people all over the world clink their glasses at twelve AM. It is not a holiday like those two, so why is it internationally recognized?
Perhaps it is the shamrock green of St. Patrick’s Day. Here in the United States, the shamrock green symbolizes acceptance—the wholehearted embracement of all racial and ethnic groups. The very first procession to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day was held in America herself in 1767; Irish soldiers in the British Army, who then were occupying New York, boldly marched through the streets, to proclaim, through the exhilarating parade and the festive music their Irish identity, while revisiting their Irish roots. This is today the same green that joins brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, of different countries together in the warmth of an affectionate home—a home that includes every different color of the world, a home for the old and the young, the driven and the lost. It is the green that bonds us as individuals to the eternally beating heart of Mother Earth, encouraging other hearts throughout the world to join us, all our hearts beating together in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
This is the same shamrock green that drives the hearts and hopes of many as they journey through treacherous ordeals to arrive at their intended destination, whether it be America, or someplace else. The shamrock green forever represents their hopes and dreams for a better life. The shamrock green is the river of endurance, the river of the tears and sweat suffered as they stride against the pressures of the world; it is the shamrock green of determination. The shamrock green is the meadows and the valleys we find after our long journeys; the blooming flowers are the awards of our persistence through all our burdens.
2012 Essay Contest Announcement…
Announcing
“The Meaning of St. Patrick’s Day”
Essay Contest for Georgia
High School Students
$1000 Prize
St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, is the only American ethnic celebration that has become a national holiday. Held in honor of Ireland’s national saint, St. Patrick’s Day honors the cultural traditions of the Irish but also the historic American commitment to embrace the multifaceted traditions of all immigrant peoples who have come to our shores.
Here in Atlanta the annual St. Patrick’s Parade was first held in 1858 by the Hibernian Benevolent Society. Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is even older, dating back to 1813 and is the second largest in the country. Thousands of people march in both parades to the skirl of brilliant pipes and drums, while revelers line the streets and enjoy the festive air. But sometimes people forget that a holiday such as this originally came out of dire and compelling circumstances: the horror of famine and religious persecution, the sorrow of leaving one’s homeland, family and friends, the terror of ocean voyages in crowded, disease-ridden boats, and the challenge of building new homes in a foreign land.
This St. Patrick’s Day, honoring all Americans who have come to our country in hopes of finding new opportunity, the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade Committee is pleased to announce its annual contest for high school students. With a prize of $1000 for the first place winner for a 1000-word essay on “The Meaning of St. Patrick’s Day,” the contest will be adjudicated by a committee headed by Dr. James W. Flannery, Director of the W. B. Yeats Foundation and a member of the Irish Studies program of Emory University.
Students are encouraged to look at the meaning of St. Patrick’s Day from any number of perspectives: historical, religious, sociologic, folkloric, cultural or multicultural. We encourage students to share their familial or community histories, stories and customs with us, whether or not they happen to be Irish. Another approach might be to look at the life and values of St. Patrick: a slave himself, he was a fierce opponent of slavery. The only criterion is that, in some way, the essay should shed a fresh light on the continued meaning of St. Patrick’s Day.
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2012
Please mail to:
Dr. James Flannery
Director, W. B. Yeats Foundation
Winship Professor of the Arts and Humanities
Emory University
1655 North Decatur Road Suite 105
Atlanta, GA 30322
or email to St.Patricksessay@gmail.com
Announcement of the winner will be made by March 5th, 2012, and the winner will be an honored guest at the 130th Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade held on Saturday, March 17, 2012 and at the Sponsor & Dignitary Breakfast preceding the Parade.