10 Facts About St.Patrick

St. Patrick’s Day. A day celebrating the life of the patron saint of Ireland, and as is tradition, parades are held every year on the 17th March to mark this special day. It is the one day a year where everyone can ‘be Irish’ and celebrate their roots or just simply join in the festivities. St. Patrick’s Day is as big in America and even worldwide as it is here in the Emerald Isle, with huge parades and celebrations. However now that it is all over for another year, and with the long Bank Holiday weekend behind us, I thought it might be nice to provide you with a few facts you may (or may not) have known about St. Patrick and this particular day in history. So here goes!

1. St. Patrick was born in Britain. He was born around 385AD to Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were both Roman citizens living in either Wales or Scotland (different versions of the story differ on this piece of info).
2. Decorating ourselves, our food, our drinks –in fact, anything we can possibly get our hands on- green is part of the St. Patrick’s tradition. However the vestments St. Patrick wore were actually blue!
3. The first celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is claimed to have been held in Boston in 1737. What’s more, in 2008, 36,278,332 Americans claimed Irish ancestry. That’s nearly 12% of the population in that year!
4. Every March 17^th in Chicago, the river is dyed green for a few hours.
5. The biggest parade is held in New York, with the biggest parade in the Southern Hemisphere being held in Sydney.
6. It is said that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. However, evidence into post-glacial Ireland suggests that there were never snakes in Ireland to begin with. It is believed that the snakes represent pagans he converted instead.
7. On Judgement Day, according to legend, Christ will judge all the nations. Except Ireland – St Patrick will judge the Irish.
8. Why honour St. Patrick on the 17^th March? It is believed that St. Patrick died on March 17th in 461 AD, in Saul,Co. Down.
9. Until the ‘70s, it was an Irish law that pubs must be closed on March 17^th. The government changed this law in 1995.
10. St Patrick is claimed to have established the Leap Year tradition of women proposing to men. Apparently this was because St. Bridget complained that women were fed up of waiting for marriage proposals. The story also states that Bridget proposed to him, but he refused!