{"id":102214,"date":"2025-03-14T12:32:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T16:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=102214"},"modified":"2025-03-14T12:32:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T16:32:35","slug":"st-patrick-was-an-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/st-patrick-was-an-engineer.html","title":{"rendered":"St. Patrick Was an Engineer!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry describes a St. Patrick\u2019s Day tradition that has been celebrated at engineering schools for more than 120 years. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we get ready to celebrate St. Patrick\u2019s Day on Monday, did you know that St. Patrick \u2013 the patron saint of Ireland \u2013 was also an engineer? Well, at least for many universities he was, who began paying homage to him over 120 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: \u201cSaint Patrick Was an Engineer,\u201d 1908. Credit: \u201cThe Missouri Oven,\u201d University of Missouri Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was the College of Engineering students at the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) who were the first to \u201cdiscover\u201d that St. Patrick was an engineer.<\/p>\n

And since 1903, UMC engineering students have celebrated St. Patrick\u2019s Day (March 17) as a holiday set aside for engineers.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, Missouri), 18 March 1904, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, their celebration lasts a week! There are lab exhibits, great fetes, a knighting ceremony, St. Pat.\u2019s Ball, and the coronation of the King and Queen of the engineers. And there is much carnivalesque playing that goes on.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: University of Missouri engineer\u2019s stunt card, 1909. Credit: University of Missouri Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When word got out that St. Patrick was an engineer, others followed suit and celebrated throughout the country \u2013 and even Canada caught on.<\/p>\n

Legend has it that the discovery that St. Patrick was an engineer began with excavations for the University of Missouri\u2019s Engineering Annex Building.<\/p>\n

During the excavation, a stone was unearthed with a message in an ancient language. This message was: \u201cErin Go Bragh.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those of Irish descent, \u201cErin Go Bragh\u201d translates as \u201cIreland Forever,\u201d but for the engineers this phrase meant \u201cSt. Patrick was an engineer.\u201d The engineers looked to the legend that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland as proof of his engineering skills. They further credit St. Patrick with the invention of calculus.<\/p>\n

The University of Missouri engineering students created a knighting ceremony in honor of St. Patrick.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: knighting ritual, 1908. Credit: Missouri University of Science and Technology Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arnot McCoy Finley (1884-1973) was a student in the Engineering Department and took some great photographs of the early days of the St. Patrick Day activities. Finley, being a knight himself, appears in this next photograph with his fellow Knights of St. Patrick.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Knights of St. Patrick, published in the Savitar UMC Yearbook, 1916. Credit: UMC special collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below are two photos taken by Finley, courtesy of the UMC Special Digital Collection via the State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia. You can view more at SHSMO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this first photo, we see St. Patrick with two members of the school band.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: St. Patrick and band members, 1914. Credit: Arnot McCoy Finley; UMC Special Digital Collection via the State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next, we see a St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade float made by UMC Engineer students on a horse-drawn wagon exhibiting a machine made of bicycle wheels, inspired by their muse St. Patrick.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade float, 1915. Credit: Arnot McCoy Finley; UMC Special Digital Collection via the State Historical Society of Missouri-Columbia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1908 the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), located in Rolla, Missouri, held their own St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebration.<\/p>\n

Below is a photo of George Manefee, who served as Missouri S&T\u2019s first St. Patrick to perform the knighting ritual, accompanied by two court representatives.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: George Manefee as St. Patrick, 1908. Credit: Missouri University of Science and Technology Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iowa State University started its own St. Patrick tradition in 1910 and included a junior-senior baseball game, an engineer\u2019s banquet and ball, and an open house for the departments within the Division of Engineering.<\/p>\n

The highlights of the celebration were a man dressed as St. Patrick initiating the outstanding seniors into the Knights of the Order of St. Patrick, and a mile-long parade with oversized snakes and dragons winding their way through Ames, Iowa.<\/p>\n

Here is the tradition being carried on in this 1921 photograph featuring St. Patrick and the Engineering Queen with her court and attendants.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: St. Patrick and the Engineering Queen, 1921. Credit: Iowa State University Library Collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 1922 newspaper clip from the Miami District Daily News<\/em> announces that the Miami School of Mines, \u201cin accordance with a custom pursued by all engineering schools of the country,\u201d will hold their own observance of St. Patrick\u2019s Day engineer celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/a>
Miami District Daily News (Miami, Oklahoma), 11 March 1922, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

Wild and wooly stunts will be pulled in the physics and chemistry departments, according to Dean Lloyd W. Drake, among them the manufacturer of \u201cwine\u201d under the very eyes of the revenue officers. The celebration will close with a 45-minute program of music and literary numbers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1928 two UMC students were given leading roles in the St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), 25 March 1928, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This photo caption reads:<\/p>\n

At the University of Missouri, where was started the custom of making St. Patrick\u2019s Day a holiday for engineering students, Marguerite Smith was queen of the St. Pat\u2019s ball this March 17, and Charles Earl Schooley<\/a> was the saint\u2019s representative.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The tradition continues today. Here are some photographs from Engineers\u2019 Week 2023 at UMC. This was the 120th year!<\/p>\n

(Top Left): King and Queen candidates (left to right) Alex Boren, nominated by Omega Chi Epsilon; Katie Bagley, nominated by the Society of Women Engineers; Trenton Foster, nominated by the National Society of Black Engineers; Natalie Camilleri, nominated by the Society of Women Engineers; Tyler Schuster, nominated by the Mizzou Engineering Student Council; Kyarra Gorham, nominated by the National Society of Black Engineers; Timothy Healy, nominated by the Mizzou Engineering Student Council; Jordan Hayes, nominated by the Mizzou Engineering Student Council; Andrew Luebbert, nominated by the Engineering Ambassadors; Sophie Mermelstein, nominated by Pi Beta Phi. (Bottom Left): St. Patrick joins Engineers\u2019 Week Co-Chairs Kate Sherard and Lane Atchison as they prepare to knight seniors and honorary guests; (Right): Engineers\u2019 Week is signified by Jesse Hall\u2019s green dome.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: UMC celebrations of St. Patrick\u2019s Day, 2023. Credit: University of Missouri Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happy St. Patrick\u2019s Day Peeps!!!<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> shamrocks and stars for St. Patrick\u2019s Day. Illustration credit: https:\/\/depositphotos.com\/home.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry describes a St. Patrick\u2019s Day tradition that has been celebrated at engineering schools for more than 120 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":102231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12703],"tags":[19275,4832,49,58981],"class_list":["post-102214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-colleges-and-universities","tag-engineering","tag-st-patricks-day","tag-st-patrick"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/illustration-0313-2024-featured-graphic-shamrocks-stars.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102214"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102230,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102214\/revisions\/102230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}