You would think that Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, would be from the Emerald Isle.

Think again. Patrick was actually from Wales who later became a missionary to the Irish.

According to Dr. Howell Gwinn, a history professor at Lamar University, Patrick was captured and taken as a slave to Ireland in the fifth century. He later escaped to a Benedictine monastery in France and became a Christian. He returned to Ireland to Christianize and civilize the people. He is credited for driving the snakes out of Ireland and using the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity.

Dr. John Howe, a professor of history at Texas Tech University, said only two writings by St. Patrick exist, “The ‘Confession’” and a letter addressed to the soldiers of Coroticus, an Irish chieftain.

Though the origin of the holiday comes from Ireland, it certainly has become Americanized to Gwinn.

“It’s like Cinco De Mayo; it’s more important here than in Ireland,” Gwinn said. “The Irish were thefirst mass immigrants beginning in the 1830s and 1840s, from the Potato Famine, and they were considered different — they were Roman Catholic, they drank a lot and they talked differently. It was a rough time for them. This was also a period of nativism in this country and the Irish held on to St. Patrick as a unifying, common heritage.”

Gwinn likened it to a great national separation akin to Columbus Day for Itallian-Americans. He added he knows of no great mass Irish migration to Texas, say like the Germans and Greeks made. One Irish Texan that stood out to Gwinn was Dick Dowling, the hero of the Battle of Sabine Pass during the Civil War. Otherwise, St. Patrick’s Day is not as big of a holiday in the South as it is in the North. Still some bars will be serving green beer and playing Irish music.

Jeff Courts plays the bagpipes and spent the weekend performing in Lake Charles. He said St. Patrick’s Day is a huge day in Lake Charles and they also host the Celtic Nation Heritage Festival in October.

The Log On Cafe in Beaumont celebrates the holiday annually and will have Danny O’Flaherty and The Lone Star Pipe Band playing Monday night. MacKenzie’s Pub in Beaumont say they have the largest St. Patrick’s party in town and they are already filled up and sold out. Corned beef and cabbage will be served with Irish music from Britt Godwin with other Irish songs. Madison’s in Beaumont will have pipers on Monday night and the band Floppy Tacos will perform traditional Celtic music. There will also be plenty of Guinness stout and mead to go around.

“As a Welshman, I’m proud that St. Patrick went to Ireland. There’s an old saying, ‘Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,’” Gwinn said.