St. Patrick: The Patron Saint of Engineers & Reason for Celebrations
The Globetrotter’s writing prompt for March takes me on a trip down memory lane that involves green beer.
For four years, the color green once symbolized St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Many know of St. Pat and his Irish affiliation. But few probably know that St. Patrick is the patron saint of ceramic engineers.
What? Do you doubt this? What the heck is a ceramic engineer and why would St. Patrick have anything to do with them, you ask?
Ceramic engineers are a type of engineer that works with non-metal, and non-organic materials such as clay and glass. Ceramic engineers are multi-disciplinary in their work, having to work confidently in material science, space science, biomedicine, construction, and even electronics as applications. They work on functional or structural projects (source).
St. Patrick was the first to encourage the use of lime mortar structures such as arches and churches instead of dry masonry in Ireland in the 5th century A.D. This led to more arts and crafts in Ireland, with St. Patrick being credited. Thus, today he is known as the patron saint of engineers.
I first learned this in 1982 when our school, Alfred University, celebrated St. Patrick’s Day over three days in March. It was a long-standing tradition in Alfred dating back to 1933. Alfred University has a College of Ceramic Engineering and at the time we went to school there, it was only one of a handful of Universities that offered a degree in Ceramic Engineering.
For the four years, we (my husband and I) attended school at Alfred, there was a parade, a formal dance, and plenty of green beer to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It was not about being Irish but being a School of Ceramic Engineering! We have fond memories of this festive weekend at college.
The celebration of St. Patrick at Alfred ended in 1986, shortly after the 50th anniversary of the celebration that lit a small college town offering an unusual degree with an even more unusual patron saint (source). Many things contributed to the decision to end the campus celebrations but those of us who were there, have fond memories.
Today ceramic engineers can be credited with the following contributions, well beyond the toilet and the kitchen sink:
heat shields for space exploration craft re-entry
replacement parts for the human body such as hips, knees, and shoulders.
I think that Saint Patrick would be awed and moved by the applications that have developed since he encouraged the use of lime mortar in Ireland so many centuries ago.
This weekend raise a glass filled with green beer to honor the ingenuity St. Patrick showed and encouraged others to pursue to make our lives better!
Here’s to St. Patrick — the Patron Saint of Ceramic Engineers!
Check out some other participants in the Globetrotter’s monthly challenge!
Julia Keirns is traveling the U.S. in an RV and reflects on all that is green in this recent post! I envy the ground she’s covering whether it is green or brown!
And be sure to check out, Travel Stories by Gabe, who takes us on four beautiful hikes around Dublin, Ireland. I have to admit that I tagged Gabe to save this piece so that when I go to Ireland, I can find his suggestions!
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