Fun Facts About St. Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick's Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

• The actual color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick's Day during the 19th century. Green, in Irish legends, was worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people to encourage their crops to grow.
• St. Patrick did not actually drive snakes out of Ireland; the snakes represent the pagans that he converted to Christianity.
• The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.
• In Chicago, on St. Patrick's Day, the rivers are dyed green. Mayor Daley is also of Irish descent.
• In Seattle, there is a ceremony where a green stripe is painted down the roads.
• Shamrocks are worn on the lapel on this day.
• In Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
• The phrase, "Drowning The Shamrock" is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Facts about the Irish

• 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That's almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
• Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage -- including our first President, George Washington.
• Some American towns have "Irish" names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
• The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.