Sure we love to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but where did these traditions come from and how are we celebrating them today? We’ve picked some of the most interesting St. Patrick’s Day facts and tidbits for you to share in your party conversations!
1. St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish national holiday with banks, stores, and businesses closing for the day.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/st-patricks-day-fast-facts/
2. The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston (1737).
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/st-patricks-day-fast-facts/
3. The color of St. Patrick’s Day was originally blue.
Wearing green has become a staple of St. Patrick’s Day, but the holiday was originally associated with the color blue. It’s thought that the shift to green happened because of Ireland’s nickname “The Emerald Isle,” the green in the Irish flag and the shamrock, or clover. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn as early as the 17th century.
Source: http://www.livescience.com/27957-st-patricks-day-5-facts.html
4. Beer is one of the most widely consumed beverages on St. Patrick’s Day.
Source: Every St. Patrick’s Party, ever. And this article: http://www.livescience.com/27957-st-patricks-day-5-facts.html
5. Legend says that each leaf of the clover has a meaning: Hope, Faith, Love and Luck.
Source: http://goodlucksymbols.com/four-leaf-clover/
6. There are 34.7 million U.S. residents with Irish ancestry. This number is more than seven times the population of Ireland itself.
Source: http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-facts
7. The real St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family.
8. Your odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au
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