St. Patrick’s Day

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17 March 2014 by jessjennison

This lesson focuses on Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day. You can adapt it for different levels or alter the text to look at a different grammar topic. Here, it’s set up to look at relative pronouns.

• What is the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain?
• What do you know about Ireland? What icons do you associate with Ireland?
• What is St. Patrick’s Day? Where is it celebrated?
• How do people celebrate?

 

Part One: True or False?

1) You can drive to Ireland from Scotland.

2) The famous ship ’Titanic’ was built in Belfast.

3) Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have the same currency.

4) Most people in Northern Ireland speak English.

5) Chocolate milk was invented in Ireland.

6) The capital city of Northern Ireland is Dublin.

7) Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and U2 are all Irish.

8) When Queen Elizabeth went to Ireland in 2011, she was the first English monarch to visit in 50 years.

 

Part Two: Read the following text. Fill in the spaces with the correct relative pronoun and explain what the new vocabulary in bold means.

 

St Patrick’s Day: How England came to celebrate Irish culture

The Irish around the world gather to celebrate their culture on St Patrick’s Day, but in recent times increasing numbers of English people have been keen to join the party.

A survey ______________ was conducted for the think tank British Future last year found ___________English people were more likely to be able to remember the date of St Patrick’s Day than St George’s Day and suggested many were “too nervous” to celebrate their own patron saint on 23 April.

The first celebrations for St Patrick were recorded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. It is believed ________ Saint Patrick, ______________ is the patron saint of Ireland, was born in either Scotland or Wales in the fourth century. He was taken to Ireland as a slave, __________ he was 16 years old, but escaped after six years. It was during his capture _______________ he turned to God.

Saint Patrick is traditionally associated with the Shamrock plant, _____________ he used to explain the concept of the Trinity. He is credited with playing a major role in converting the Irish to Christianity after returning to the country as a missionary. Legend also says that St. Patrick could raise people from the dead and he is well-known from driving all the snakes out of Ireland, although many people dispute the truth in this.

On St. Paddy’s day, pictures of shamrocks and leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns complete with their big green hats. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold.

Mike Cronin, _____________ wrote The Wearing of the Green: A History of St Patrick’s Day, said the earliest mention of the festival in England came in the 19th Century, ____________ it was seen as important for the Irish to attend mass on 17 March.

“In later decades of the 19th Century, particularly in London and Birmingham, you would see very small, local parades,” he said. “After the Second World War they became much more formal, usually based around different Irish societies such as the counties ______________ people came from, so you might have the Dublin society or a Mayo society parade.”

St Patrick’s Day faded in England, Mr Cronin said, during the darkest days of the Troubles ___________ there was a nervousness about celebrating Irishness. The only parade ______________ continued through all the years of the Troubles was the London one.

But, in the 1990s, there was a huge upsurge of the Irish-themed bar. English people became much more used to the idea ___________ they were going to this bar on this day because it was St Patrick’s Day and Guinness would be giving out free hats and whatever else. Suddenly it was acceptable to be performing Irishness out on the streets again.

Now, Irish pub owners go crazy putting green food colouring into their beers and traditional Irish Guinness sells out in all Irish pubs. People also drink lots of Irish coffee, ___________ is made with warm whiskey, sugar, coffee and topped off with whipped cream. As for food, corned beef and cabbage is a consistently popular dish. Another option is Irish soda bread and potato pancakes.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade and wearing green clothes. The English are drawn to the celebrations due to their “jubilant party nature”, in the same way people around the globe are.

 

Part Three: Comprehension Questions.

• Why are English people too ‘nervous’ to celebrate their own Saint’s day?
• When are where was St. Patrick born?
• Why is he a patron saint?
• How did St. Patrick use the Shamrock?
• What are leprechauns?
• What were ‘the Troubles’?
• Why did St. Patrick’s Day become popular again?
• What do people eat and drink on St. Patrick’s Day?
• Can any of the relative pronouns in the text be removed?

 

Part Four: Discussion Questions

• Have you ever celebrated St. Patricks Day?
• Do you have any similar legends like leprechauns?
• Do you celebrate the Saint’s day in your country?
• What other festivals do you enjoy?
• Are there special food associated with the festivals you know?
• Do you think these festivals are important to our culture or just an excuse for excessive drinking?
• Do you think all religious festivals have become secular now?
• Should the government fund national festivals or are they a waste of money?

 

Part Five: Role Plays

A: You work for the local council and you want to organise a parade in your town for St. Patrick’s Day. You believe the festival will be a good excuse to have some fun and bring people together.

B: You organise the budget in the local council. You don’t want to put on a parade because you don’t think the council has enough money. You are worried that people will drink too much, make a mess and cause a lot of trouble.

 

A: Your daughter wants to go out and party on St. Patricks Day but you don’t want her to go. You think she is too young to be around alcohol and you don’t want her to get into trouble.

B: You’re 17 and you really want to go out and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You’re under the legal drinking age but you want to go out and have fun because you’ve never celebrated the festival before.

 

A: You work in an English pub and you want to revive St. George’s Day celebrations in England by holding a party in your pub. You think the day can be just as popular as St. Patrick’s Day if it’s marketed correctly. You think English people need some more national pride.

B: You’re doubtful that St. George’s Day celebrations can be revived. The day has bad connotations and celebrating it will only bring trouble-makers to our pub. People are too busy to celebrate a day that’s not important to them. Anyway, we don’t need a festival to have a good time.