St. Patrick’s Day, known as la Festa di San Patrizio in Italian, is a feast of Christian origin dedicated to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and has been celebrated each year in Ireland since the early 17th century. The holiday, which always falls on on March 17th, commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland during the 5th century AD, the period during which St. Patrick was bishop in Ireland.
In this article, we’ll take a quick look at how St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in Italy, the saint’s true origins, and how to wish someone a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” in Italian.
St. Patrick’s Day in Italy: Is it celebrated?
Although this popular celebration of Irish culture is not officially observed in Italy, it isn’t uncommon for events to be held around the country and for landmarks, such as the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Castel Nuovo in Naples, to be lit up with the colour green (verde), the national colour of Ireland.
Numerous pubs in the larger cities of Italy, such as Rome, Milan and Bologna, hold a St. Paddy’s Day party with green beer (la birra verde) or Irish whiskey (il whiskey irlandese). The Local Italy provides a good summary of the events that were held in 2022.
Below you can watch a video about one of Rome’s most famous Irish pubs, Shamrock Pub Roma. Located just a stone’s throw from the Colosseum, this lively pub is the perfect place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with your Italian friends!
What is the Italian name for St. Patrick?
Many English male names have an Italian equivalent, and Patrick just happens to be one of them! The Italian name for Patrick is Patrizio, so St. Patrick would therefore translate as San Patrizio, with San being an abbreviation of santo (saint).
Was Saint Patrick really Italian?
Good question! To this day, St. Patrick’s lineage is contested. We know with some certainty that he was born around the year 390 in what is now England, Scotland or Wales (and not Ireland) to a Christian deacon and his wife. What is uncertain is whether Patrick’s parents were Roman, and therefore from the territory that is modern-day Italy, or of indigenous Celtic descent. Either theory is plausible – on one hand, there are surviving documents that show he wrote in Latin and signed his name Patricius; on the other, there are some accounts he was born Maewyn Succat, which is a Celtic name. (Source: History.com)
With that said, even if St. Patrick was of Roman descent, he can’t really be called “Italian” given that Italy wasn’t officially unified until 1871!
How to Say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” in Italian
If you have an Irish friend who is learning Italian, or you simply plan on celebrating the holiday in Italy, here is how you would say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” in the language of love:
Buona Festa di San Patrizio!
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
Buona is the feminine form of buono meaning “good” or in this case “happy”. It is often seen in greetings such as Buon natale! (Merry Christmas!), Buona Pasqua! (Happy Easter!) and Buon San Valentino! (Happy St. Valentine’s Day!).
Festa is the Italian word for party, celebration, or festival but in this particular case, the translation feast may be the most appropriate. After all, the day is also known as “the Feast of Saint Patrick” in English. Both festa and feast can be traced back to the Latin festa, the neuter plural of festus (joyous).
Di is quite simply a preposition with the meaning “of” or apostrophe “s”.
Additional St. Patrick’s Day vocabulary in Italian:
clover / shamrock
four-leaf clover
leprechaun
Ireland
Irish
green
beer
whiskey
pot of gold
rainbow
trifoglio
quadrifoglio
leprecauno / folletto
Irlanda
irlandese
verde
birra
whiskey
pentola d’oro
arcobaleno
Il Cielo d’Irlanda (The Sky of Ireland)
What better way to end this article than with one of our favourite Italian songs: Il Cielo d’Irlanda (The Sky of Ireland). Written by Massimo Bubola and performed by singer-songwriter Fiorella Mannoia, it can be considered it an ode to the beauty of Ireland and its people.
Il cielo d’Irlanda è un oceano di nuvole e luce
Il cielo d’Irlanda è un tappeto che corre veloce
Il cielo d’Irlanda ha i tuoi occhi se guardi lassù
Ti annega di verde e ti copre di blu
Ti copre di verde e ti annega di blu
Il cielo d’Irlanda si sfama di muschio e di lana
Il cielo d’Irlanda si spulcia i capelli alla luna
Il cielo d’Irlanda è un gregge che pascola in cielo
Si ubriaca di stelle di notte e il mattino è leggero
Si ubriaca di stelle e il mattino è leggero
Dal Donegal alle isole Aran
E da Dublino fino al Connemara
Dovunque tu stia viaggiando con zingari o re
Il cielo d’Irlanda si muove con te
Il cielo d’Irlanda è dentro di te
Il cielo d’Irlanda è un enorme cappello di pioggia
Il cielo d’Irlanda è un bambino che dorme sulla spiaggia
Il cielo d’Irlanda a volte fa il mondo in bianco e nero
Ma dopo un momento i colori li fa brillare più del vero
Ma dopo un momento li fa brillare più del vero
Il cielo d’Irlanda è una donna che cambia spesso d’umore
Il cielo d’Irlanda è una gonna che gira nel sole
Il cielo d’Irlanda è Dio che suona la fisarmonica
Si apre e si chiude col ritmo della musica
Si apre e si chiude col ritmo della musica
Dal Donegal alle isole Aran
E da Dublino fino al Connemara
Dovunque tu stia ballando con zingari o re
Il cielo d’Irlanda si muove con te
Il cielo d’Irlanda è dentro di te
Dovunque tu stia bevendo con zingari o re
Il cielo d’Irlanda è dentro di te
Il cielo d’Irlanda è dentro di te
Il cielo d’Irlanda si muove con te
Il cielo d’Irlanda è dentro di te
The Irish sky is an ocean of clouds and light
The Irish sky is a carpet that runs fast
The Irish sky has your eyes if you look up
It drowns you in green and covers you in blue
It covers you in green and drowns you in blue
The Irish sky feeds on moss and wool
The Irish sky combs through the moon’s hair
The Irish sky is a flock grazing in the sky
It gets drunk on stars at night and in the morning it is carefree
It gets drunk on stars and in the morning it is carefree
From Donegal to the Aran Islands
And from Dublin to Connemara
Wherever you are travelling with gypsies or kings
The Irish sky moves with you
The Irish sky is within you
The Irish sky is an enormous rain hat
The Irish sky is a child sleeping on the beach
The Irish sky sometimes makes the world black and white
But after a moment the colours make them shine brighter than the real thing
But after a moment it makes them shine brighter than the real thing
The Irish sky is a woman whose mood often changes
The Irish sky is a skirt that turns in the sun
The Irish sky is God playing the accordion
It opens and closes to the rhythm of the music
It opens and closes to the rhythm of the music
From Donegal to the Aran Islands
And from Dublin to Connemara
Wherever you are dancing with gypsies or kings
The Irish sky moves with you
The Irish sky is within you
Wherever you are drinking with gypsies or kings
The Irish sky is within you
The Irish sky is within you
The Irish sky moves with you
The Irish sky is within you
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
