St. Patrick's Day Fun Facts

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This holiday is all about celebrating and here a few St. Patrick’s Day fun facts you can share with your friends and family.

Saint Patrick was born in England not Ireland
St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD.
The oldest Irish Brewery still in existence is the Guinness Brewery in Dublin from 1759. Some of the oldest breweries have been around for over 1,000 years. Irish beer is popular all year not just on St. Patricks Day, and many towns have popular Irish Pubs, the oldest is McSorley’s Ale House established in 1854.
The original color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick’s Day during the 19th century.
Green, in Irish legends were worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people to encourage their crops to grow. The national color of Ireland is green
The most famous legend regarding St. Patrick is that he rid Ireland of snakes by ringing his bell from the top of Croagh Patrick, the 2500 feet tall, conical mountain near Westport. Of course this isn’t a true fact, but makes for an amusing anecdote. The mountain however has become a place of annual pilgrimage. There is an ancient church at the top and at the base a natural spring well known as Patrick’s well or Tobair Padraig – St. Patrick supposedly baptized the first Irish converts at this well.
Saint Patrick did not actually drive the snakes out of Ireland, the snakes represent the pagans that he converted to Christianity.
Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach converted Christians about the holy trinity.
In 1903 James O’Mara, a member of the Irish parliament, had a new law passed that recognized that St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday and because of this all pubs were closed for the next 67 years when the law was overturned and the holiday was no longer a religious observance.
The city with the largest population of Americans of Irish descent is Boston (23%)
Over 8 million St. Patrick’s Day cards are exchanged in America making today the ninth-largest card selling occasion in the US.
The very first St. Patrick’s Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.
36 million The number of U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (slightly more than 4 million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.
Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
Today New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in the world. This year nearly three million spectators are expected to watch the spectacle and some150,000 participants plan to march.
Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is little more than 75 years old
More than 100 St. Patrick’s Day parades are held across the United States; New York City and Boston are home to the largest celebrations.
Chicago is famous for a somewhat peculiar annual event: dyeing the Chicago River green. The tradition started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river— enough to keep it green for a week!
In 1948, President Truman attended New York City ‘s St. Patrick’s Day parade, a proud moment for the many Irish whose ancestors had to fight stereotypes and racial prejudice to find acceptance in America.
When General George Washington’s troops seized Boston from the British on March 17, 1776, the word “Boston” was used as the password and “St. Patrick” as the reply.
Traditional Irish greeting on St. Patrick’s Day: “Beannacht na feile Padrig oraibh,” which means “May the blessings of St. Patrick be with you.”
An Irish toast: “May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
Finding a four-leaf clover. Each leaf on the clover represents something: hope, faith, love and luck. Throughout history four-leaf clovers have been thought to bring luck, mostly because they are so rare, as there are no clover plants that naturally produce four leaves.
Leprechauns are little old men who make shoes for fairies. They are about two feet tall and very mischievous. Legend has it that you can find a leprechaun by listening for his hammer, as they are always hard at work. If you catch one, you are entitled to his pot of gold. However, they’re very quick, and if you take your eyes off of them for a split second they will disappear with their treasure.
What do you call the stick leprechauns carry? Shillelagh. The leprechauns use the shillelagh to gain access to their rainbow. The stick is crooked and made of wood.
What type of tree do leprechauns supposedly live in? Hawthorn. The Irish would dance around hawthorn trees and hope to catch a leprechaun coming out for good luck. Leprechauns are good luck… if you can catch one…