Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!
Rather than go into a deep dive of the history of the day, here are some fun facts:
1) St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17th, the day of St. Patrick’s death in 461 AD to Roman parents. He was English, not Irish.
2) St. Patrick was born in 385 AD in a place believed to be Banna Venta Berniae, a town in Roman Britain, but his exact place of birth is uncertain.
3) St. Patrick’s Day commemorates the arrival of Christianity to Ireland in 432 AD.
4) St. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders at the age of 16 and tended sheep for them before escaping to become a priest.
5) St. Patrick used a Shamrock to teach pagans about the Holy Trinity. The shamrock is the official flower of Ireland and associated with St. Patrick.
6) The Irish have observed the religious holiday of St. Patrick’s Day for over 1,000 years.
7) The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland in 1903. The first U.S. St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Boston in 1737. Over 100 St. Patrick’s Day parades are held across the U.S. annually.
8) Almost 12% of Americans claim Irish ancestry, and more people of Irish ancestry live in the U.S. than Ireland.
9) The first New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in 1762 and is the oldest civilian parade and largest in the U.S. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade includes over 150,000 participants and over 3 million spectators along the 1.5-mile parade route. The parade takes mover 5 hours to complete. The shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in Arkansas, and is only 98 feet.
10) More than 1 million people take part in St. Patrick’s Day Festival (March 15-17) in Dublin every year.
11) Corned beef & cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal, but the meal is typically an English dish, not Irish.
12) From 1903-1970, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday in Ireland and most pubs were closed. It was then reclassified as a national holiday and drinking has now become a strong tradition associated with the day.
13) Over 450 churches in the U.S. are named for St. Patrick, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
14) St. Patrick’s Day is not celebrated on March 17 when the day falls during Holy Week. This has happened in 1940 and 2008. In 1940 it was celebrated on April 3 and in 2008 it was celebrated on March 15. The next Holy Week occurrence will be in 2160.
15) Finding a four-leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day is considered lucky. There is only a one in 10,000 chance of finding a four-leaf clover at any time.
Do you know anyone with a birthday on St. Patrick’s Day? How do you celebrate the day? Let’s talk on Facebook!