5 Little Known Facts About St. Patrick's Day
- 10 years ago
St. Paddy’s Day is upon us so “what’s the craic?” Before you get “knackered” by your festivities celebrating everything Irish, have your favorite pint and listen to these 5 little-known facts about this well-loved holiday.
St. Paddy’s Day is upon us and before you get “knackered” by your festivities celebrating everything Irish, have your favorite pint and listen to these 5 little-known facts about this well-loved holiday:
Number 5 – Saint Patrick wasn’t Patrick or Irish. Maewyn Succat was born in 5th century Roman Britain, or modern-day Scotland. Born into a Christian family he was not a devout believer, but after being kidnapped as a teen and held in slavery for many years, he later changed his name when dedicating himself to Christianity.
Number 4 – Saint Patrick was originally associated with blue. Some say the political exhibition of national pride in the 1798 Irish Rebellion sparked the conversion to green. Other accounts credit St. Patrick’s shamrocks, the Emerald Isle, the Irish flag, spring colors, and the color worn by immortals or people wanting a big harvest.
Number 3 – Today’s popular foods aren’t exact originals. The main dish was Irish bacon and cabbage. But Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Potato Famine in the mid-1800s had little money to afford bacon and substituted cheap corned beef.
Number 2 – Green was once unlucky in Ireland. Wearing too much of it attracted faeries who kidnapped people.
Number 1 – The first parade was held in New York when Irish soldiers marched into a Manhattan tavern in 1762. Today this parade is the largest with around 200,000 participants and 3 million viewers. An Irish society in Boston may have held the first dinner in 1737.
St. Paddy’s Day is upon us and before you get “knackered” by your festivities celebrating everything Irish, have your favorite pint and listen to these 5 little-known facts about this well-loved holiday:
Number 5 – Saint Patrick wasn’t Patrick or Irish. Maewyn Succat was born in 5th century Roman Britain, or modern-day Scotland. Born into a Christian family he was not a devout believer, but after being kidnapped as a teen and held in slavery for many years, he later changed his name when dedicating himself to Christianity.
Number 4 – Saint Patrick was originally associated with blue. Some say the political exhibition of national pride in the 1798 Irish Rebellion sparked the conversion to green. Other accounts credit St. Patrick’s shamrocks, the Emerald Isle, the Irish flag, spring colors, and the color worn by immortals or people wanting a big harvest.
Number 3 – Today’s popular foods aren’t exact originals. The main dish was Irish bacon and cabbage. But Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Potato Famine in the mid-1800s had little money to afford bacon and substituted cheap corned beef.
Number 2 – Green was once unlucky in Ireland. Wearing too much of it attracted faeries who kidnapped people.
Number 1 – The first parade was held in New York when Irish soldiers marched into a Manhattan tavern in 1762. Today this parade is the largest with around 200,000 participants and 3 million viewers. An Irish society in Boston may have held the first dinner in 1737.