St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that many American’s enjoy celebrating every year. It’s a great excuse to get together with family and friends, attend the local parade, wear lots of green clothes, and drink beer. However, there is a lot about this holiday which people don’t know! Stick around and read about seven St. Patrick’s Day facts you might’ve never known!

  1. This holiday falls on March 17th each year because that is the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Did you know that Saint Patrick wasn’t even Irish? He was actually born in Wales. He was held as a prisoner by Irish raiders shortly after he turned sixteen years old, and this is when he found his faith.
  2. Green was not always the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day. For thousands of years, light blue was the color people used to celebrate this holiday!
  3. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held right here, in the United States. The parade tradition originated in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. New York followed shortly behind them, launching their first parade in 1762.
  4. Each year the leader of Ireland spends St. Patrick’s Day in the United States. It has been a tradition for many years that the Irish leader would give the gift of a crystal bowl of shamrocks to the President of the United States.
  5. The shamrock gained its symbolism from its use as a teaching tool. Saint Patrick used the shamrock to educate children about the Holy Trinity.
  6. From 1927 to 1961, St. Patrick’s Day was a dry holiday. The Irish government banned alcohol to enforce the religious aspects of the holiday. Pubs around the country were forced to close for this day. Nowadays, approximately 11 million pints of Guinness are consumed on this holiday.
  7. Chicago dyes their river green for the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. The dye which they used is plant-based allowing it to return to it’s normal color in approximately thirty hours.

Hopefully you learned a few fun facts about this holiday and March 17th will have more reasons to celebrate! Have a happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day! I have included some of the links I used to find some of these facts below!

https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

https://www.hostelworld.com/blog/celebrating-st-patricks-day-around-the-world/