Our family is part of 36.5 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. So, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd share some interesting Irish trivia!
- St. Patrick's Day takes place each year on March 17, the traditional religious feast day of Saint Patrick. Go here for the story of St. Patrick's life - the facts are more amazing than the traditional folklore commonly told about him!
- "Erin Go Bragh," a phrase heard often on St. Patrick's Day, means: "Ireland Forever."
- Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish. About 41.5 billion pounds and 2.6 billion pounds of U.S. beef and cabbage, respectively, were sold in 2007. The corned beef celebrants eat on St. Patrick's Day may very well have originated in Texas, which produced 6.8 billion pounds worth of beef, while the cabbage most likely came from California or New York.
- The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Over 100 St. Patrick's Day parades take place around the United States, but the parades in New York City and Boston are the largest. The New York St. Patrick's Day parade does not allow automobiles or floats, but over 150,000 marchers participate in the parade.
- Some city dye their rivers green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Chicago is probably the most well-known for this tradition.
- The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.
- It has long been recounted that, during his mission in Ireland, St. Patrick once stood on a hilltop (which is now called Croagh Patrick), and with only a wooden staff by his side, banished all the snakes from Ireland. In fact, the island nation was never home to any snakes. The "banishing of the snakes" was really a metaphor for the eradication of pagan ideology from Ireland and the triumph of Christianity. Within two hundred years of Patrick's arrival, Ireland was completely Christianized.
- Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic folklore, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled treasure. Leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O'Gill & the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
