Having learned in the last few years that I am of Irish extraction, I’ve found a renewed interest in St. Patrick’s Day. For this week’s blog post I did a little digging and discovered some things about St. Patrick’s Day that I hadn’t known.
***
The real Saint Patrick wasn’t Irish! He was British, born to an aristocratic family around the year 390. He didn’t even practice Christianity until, having been kidnapped and sent to Ireland to live as a shepherd, he experienced a religious conversion, escaped to return to Britain, and was told in a dream to return to Ireland.
***
The real Saint Patrick wasn’t even a saint! He was never canonized by a Pope.
***
It is said that St. Patrick taught people about the Holy Trinity by using the three leaves of the common clover (or shamrock) to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
***
Your odds of finding a four-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000.
***
The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737.
***
On St. Patrick’s Day, there are over 13 million pints of Guinness sold around the world. Another fun fact: I don’t like Guinness.
***
There are 34.7 million Irish-Americans. This is more than seven times the population of Ireland.
***
The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in the Irish village of Dripsey. It is only 100 yards long and stretches between the village’s two pubs.
***
Legend has it that wearing green makes a person invisible to leprechauns.
***
There are no snakes slithering through the countryside of Ireland and there never were. When we hear that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, perhaps this is what is meant:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! How do you celebrate?
Until next time,
Amy
Reade and Write 
I did not know there were more Irish people in the US than Ireland. There are some great facts in your article, and thanks for sharing it.
LikeLike
I had fun researching that post. Glad you enjoyed it, Geri! Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
St. Patrick’s Day has never been a big deal to me, though we are in part Irish ourselves. I guess I’ve never lived anywhere that celebrated big . . .and I’m not a drinker, even when the beer is green 🙂 @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
LikeLike
I used to live in Manhattan, where St. Patrick’s Day is huge. I never really got into it until I had kids, then we did things to make it fun every year. And I don’t like beer!
LikeLike
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Ame!
LikeLike
Thanks, Bette! Same to you!
LikeLike
This was informative – thanks!
LikeLike
You’re welcome! Thanks for visiting and have a happy St. Patrick’s Day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t find a GIF of green beer.
Get Outlook for iOS
________________________________
LikeLike
🙂 Beer in green bottles was the closest thing I could find. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
LikeLike
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Amy! May the luck of the Irish be with you!
LikeLike
Thank, Pat! Same to you!
LikeLike
Interesting tidbits. Thanks for sharing, Amy.
Right now, I’ve got my corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot. Yum!
LikeLike
My pleasure, Pat. This was a fun post to research. I’m glad you mentioned dinner–my corned beef goes in the crock pot in 40 minutes! Have a great day.
LikeLike
Thanks Amy… truth is often stranger than fiction… and never let the facts get in the way of a good story lol.. xxx
LikeLike
Words to live by, Sally! I hope you have a great St. Patrick’s Day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Amy.. hugsxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a huge celebration here in our part of Spain as there are many Irish folks living here and the Spanish people love to celebrate anything!! Unfortunately due to the coronavirus, it was cancelled this year, much to the disappointment of many of us. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all. Everyone is Irish on March 17th!!
LikeLike
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have largely been cancelled in this country, too, and people everywhere are disappointed because it is a fun day to celebrate. I’ve heard on the BBC how many businesses and services in Spain have been affected by the virus, so I hope you stay safe and well. We should all have a world-wide celebration when the virus is defeated!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
LikeLike
Thanks for the reblog! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We don’t celebrate St Patrick’s Day as we are not Irish, but we do like the colour green, does that count?
LikeLike
It definitely counts! I’ve often heard it said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, so go ahead and color your food green today!
LikeLiked by 1 person