1. St. Patrick’s Day

2. St. Patrick Born a pagan in Wales Kidnapped by Irish pirates at age 16
Lived as a shepherd slave in Ireland for 6 years
During slavery, he became a Christian

3. Escaped at about age 22
Went to seminary in England
Returned to Ireland as a missionary
Converted most of the island from paganism to Christianity

4. Paganism/Druidism Worship of spirits/many gods Human sacrifice
Tree spirits
Human sacrifice
Halloween

5. Shamrock—
National symbol of Ireland
Also called “clover”
Four leaf clover
--thought to be lucky!

6. Leprechaun
A short “cranky” man
Difficult to find
Has a lot of gold
Hides gold in a pot at the end of a rainbow
To find the gold, you must follow the leprechaun—they are very fast and sneaky!

7. Celtic Cross/Celtic Knots
A style of drawing where the artist “knots” the lines together—traditional Celtic art style
The cross is the Christian cross combined with the Celtic symbol for sun. This was first done by St. Patrick.

8. Step Dancing!!! Traditional Celtic dancing
Involves tap dance and ballet
A lot of jumping and footwork