Surprising St Patrick's Day Facts

Many people probably know that St. Patrick's Day has its roots in strict religious ceremony even if it now celebrated around the world as the day people drink green beer, wear green and decorate with green shamrock and leprechaun motifs...but did you know that green was not the original color associated with St. Patrick? In Ireland, green was traditionally considered to be an unlucky color and the color that was associated with St. Patrick was blue. St. Patrick was also not even Irish. He was born in Britain and when he was 14 years old, he was captured and taken to Ireland. There, he was kept in slavery for six years and made to herd sheep. Once he was freed, he returned to Ireland in his 30s when he was a part of a missionary group of Celtic Pagans. St. Patrick is said to have died on Mar. 17 461 AD, which is why the holiday is celebrated on that day.

Anyway, I thought that was all pretty fascinating so I dug around for some other facts that would surprise people and here are some of what I found to be the most interesting:

• St. Patrick's was a dry holiday in Ireland until 1970. 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.

• The Lenten prohibition against meat was lifted for St. Patrick’s Day and traditionally revelers would feast on cabbage and Irish bacon, not corned beef like today. Irish immigrants in New York City switched to the more economical option of corned beef, an idea they picked up from their Jewish neighbors that has since taken hold around the world.

• St. Patrick was said to have driven the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea, but Ireland is one of the few places on Earth, along with New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica, where snakes never existed.

• The St. Patrick's Day Parade was first held in Boston in 1737 where a large population of Irish immigrants resided. The first St. Patrick's Day parade to take place in Ireland wasn't held until almost 200 years later in 1931. It was held, of course, in Dublin.

• People around the world drink 5.5 million pints of Guinness on an average day. On St. Patrick's Day, however, that figure jumps to 13 million. Slainte! (That's the way to say "cheers" in Gaelic).