Ten Facts about St Patrick
10. March 17th is the day of Patrick’s death, not his birth.
9. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish.
St. Patrick wasn’t Irish, and he wasn’t born in Ireland. Patrick’s parents were Roman citizens living in modern-day England.
8. St. Patrick was a slave.At the age of 16, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave. At age 22, he managed to escape. He made his way to a monastery in England where he spent 12 years growing closer to God.
7. St. Patrick used the shamrock to preach about the trinity.
6. There is no evidence that St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland.
5. Patrick’s color is blue.The original color associated with St. Patrick is blue, not green.
4. The Harp, not the Shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.
3. There are more Irish in the USA than Ireland.
2. St. Patrick’s Day in the US has a strong political history. Originally, Irish Americans were perceived as disloyal and were treated harshly. To combat this, the American Irish began to organize. St Patrick’s Day was a large holiday for the Irish and an occasion for them to demonstrate their collective political and social might. While the political emphasis has faded along with the discrimination, the holiday remains ever popular as an opportunity for festivity regardless of one’s cultural background.
1. St. Patrick’s was a dry holiday in Ireland until 1970. Aside from the color green, the activity most associated with St. Patrick’s Day is drinking. However, Irish law, from 1903 to 1970, declared St. Patrick’s Day a religious observance for the entire country meaning that all pubs were shut down for the day. That meant no beer, not even the green kind, for public celebrants. The law was overturned in 1970, when St. Patrick’s was reclassified as a national holiday .
Bonus Fact: Your odds of finding a four-leaf clover are:
About 1 in 10,000.
