St Piran’s Day

Celebrated on 5th March every year, St Piran’s Day is the most well-known and loved event on the Cornish calendar. St Piran, the patron saint of Cornwall, is remembered all over the county for his exciting story and significance.

According to legend, around a 1000 years ago the bishop St Piran was exiled from his home in Ireland by those jealous of his healing abilities. He was lashed to a mill stone before being thrown out to sea. However, he miraculously floated and washed up unscathed in Cornwall, on what is now known as Perranporth Beach. Constructed in the 5th Century, you can still find the spot in the sand dunes of Perranporth where it is said he built the first, and now oldest, church in Britain.

Upon his arrival he soon discovered tin within the Cornish stone, launching a new era of economy and industry. According to the story he built a small fire on a black rock, which smelted the tin from within and ran into a cross shape. For this reason he is the patron saint of tin mining and St Piran’s Day was also observed as a ‘tinner’s holiday’ by miners. The St Piran’s Cross, which is also the Cornish flag, is a white cross on a black background, which originated from his discovery of tin.

St Piran’s Day, on 5th March, is supposedly the day of his death. There are many stories around how he met his demise, ranging from execution by the king of Cornwall, to tripping and falling in a well after too many pints of local ale.

Throughout Cornwall, any place name containing the word ‘perran’ is named after St Piran, including Perranwell, Perranarworthal, Perranzabuloe and Perranuthnoe, which are scattered across the county.

The Cornish are a proud nation and “Gool Peran Lowen” can be heard echoing across the county on March 5th. Translating directly from Cornish into ‘Happy St Piran’s Day’, the event is marked through traditional food and drink such as pasties, stargazy pie, cream teas and local beers and ales, plus folk dancing and music, and in some communities, a St Piran’s Day service at the church. Often schools, educational centres and youth groups will utilise the day to promote Cornish culture, language and heritage, and some seaside towns even organise a St Piran’s Day swim.

Aside from the annual celebration, St Piran can be seen throughout the year in the form of his flag, flying from boats, hanging from windows, strung throughout towns and stuck to the bumpers of most cars.