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The Blarney Behind St. Patrick's Day

What do you really know about the holiday?

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St. Patrick's Day is a widely celebrated holiday in the United States. It's a day when everybody is Irish, regardless of heritage. It's a day when everybody wears green for fear of being pinched.

Did you know that the holiday began in America, not Ireland? Here are a few other tidbits about St. Patrick's Day you might not have known.

Fun Facts

  • In the U.S., it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. But in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky because folklore claimed that green was the favorite color of "faeries." In Irish folklore, faeries were likely to steal children who wore too much green.
  • The leaves of a four-leaf clover represent faith, love, hope and luck.
  • According to Guinness, 13 million pints of the beer are consumed around the world on St. Patrick's Day. Thirty percent of those 13 million pints are consumed in the U.S. alone.

    • History Behind the Holiday: St. Patrick Wasn’t Irish

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    The man whom the holiday honors was born in Britain in the third century. He was kidnapped as a teenager and taken to Ireland, where he was enslaved and forced to work as a shepherd. He eventually escaped and returned home, but legend says he heard a heavenly voice commanding him to return to Ireland and convert the people to Christianity.

    There Were Never Snakes in Ireland

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    Legend credits St. Patrick with banishing snakes from Ireland by chasing them into the sea after they assailed him during a 40-day fast. However, all evidence suggests that Ireland, an island, never had any snakes because the reptiles are unable to migrate across open ocean.

    First St. Patrick's Day Held in New York, Not Ireland

    Colonial New York City hosted the first official St. Patrick's Day parade in 1762, when Irish immigrants in the British colonial army marched down city streets to reconnect with their Irish heritage.

    St. Patrick's Day: A Minor Religious Holiday in Ireland

    St. Patrick's Day did not become a national holiday in Ireland until 1903. It was originally a minor religious holiday, when a Catholic priest would acknowledge the feast day and families would celebrate with a big meal.

    Green vs. Orange

    On St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, Catholics wear green and Protestants wear orange. 

    There is a long history of violence between Irish Catholics and Protestants. The Republic of Ireland's flag represents this conflict, as it is comprised of three stripes: a green stripe for Irish Catholics, an orange stripe for Irish Protestants and a white stripe representing the hope for peace between them.

    This article originally appeared on Novi Patch.

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