Why Do We Wear Green On Saint Patrick’s Day
It’s traditional to don some green on March 17
The original color associated with St. Patrick was blue but because the Saint preached about the Holy Trinity through the symbol of the shamrock and the Irish little folk were also associated with green, it became the most common shade in connection with him.
Parade committee organizers across the world wouldnt take too kindly to us changing the color, so maybe well leave it at green for now.
St Patrick’s Day Trivia
Question: Of which country is St. Patrick the patron saint?
Answer: Ireland
Question: Where and when was the first St. Paddys Day parade in the United States?
Answer: Boston in 1737
Question: According to Irish lore, what did Saint Patrick drive out of Ireland?
Answer: Snakes
Question: Why are green shamrocks introduced around St. Patricks Day?
Answer: St. Patrick was said to have used the three-leaf clover to demonstrate the Holy Trinity to potential converts.
Question: What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?
Answer: 1 in 10,000
Question: What does the circle at the very center of a Celtic cross represent?
Answer: The sun
Question: What is a boxty?
Answer: An Irish potato cake
Question: Which city has had a huge St. Patricks Day parade and celebration since 1813?
Answer: Savannah, Ga.
Question: How many people visit New Yorks St. Patricks Cathedral each year?
Answer: 5.5 million
Question: Where was the real St. Patrick born?
Answer: Britan
Question: What iconic structure turns green to celebrate Saint Patricks Day in England?
Answer: The London Eye
Question: What does Erin go bragh mean?
Answer: Ireland forever
Question: How do Leprechauns earn their gold?
Answer: Making and mending shoes
Question: What year did St. Patricks Day switch over from a strictly holy day for Catholics to an official Irish public holiday?
Answer: 1903
Question: About how many Americans claim to have some Irish ancestry?
Answer: 33.1 million
Answer: 40 pounds
Answer: Chicago
St Patrick Returns To Ireland
While In Great Britain, Patrick had a dream about an angel wanting him to come back and teach the Irish about Jesus. After that he went to a monastery in England where he spent the next 12 to 15 years getting closer to god and studying to become a priest. He later returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary in 433 AD to convert the Irish to Christian and to Minister the already Christians living there. His mission was so successful that St Patrick reportedly baptized 12,000 people all in one day near Killala. The Christian Church of Ireland was even founded by St Patrick. In the United States, there are over 450 churches named after St. Patrick.
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Surprising Facts About St Patrick’s Day
Anna Usova/Getty Images
Who was the real St. Patrick? Was that legend about the snakes true? And why did so many St. Patrick’s Day traditions start in America?
While St. Patricks Day is now associated with wearing green, parades and beer, the holiday is grounded in history that dates back more than 1,500 years. The earliest known celebrations were held in the 17th century on March 17, marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th century. Learn more about the holidays history and how it evolved into the event it is today.
We Should Really Be Wearing Blue On St Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick himself would have to deal with pinching on his feast day. Though we’ve come to associate kelly green with the Irish and the holiday, the 5th-century saint’s official color was “Saint Patrick’s blue,” a light shade of sky blue. The color green only became associated with the big day after it was linked to the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century.
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Interesting St Patricks Trivia Facts
Will you be shocked if we tell you that St. Patrick was not Irish? To get to know some mind-boggling St. Patricks day trivia facts, keep scrolling the blog post below.
- Patrick was not originally Irish. He was from Wales.
- Shamrock was initially used as a teaching tool to explain The Holy Trinity.
- For numerous past years, people used to wear Blue on St. Patrick s Day and Green was thought of great unlucky.
- In 2010, the Sydney Opera House went green to mark the 200th anniversary of St. Patricks Day.
- In Chicago, people dyed the river Kelly green. The dye lasts for about five hours.
- Guinness sales skyrocket on St. Patricks Day.
- Saint Patrick expelled the snakes from Ireland.
- The Royal Dublin Dog Show was the place to be held on St. Patricks Day.
- Patrick was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken away to Ireland as a slave.
- Patrick tended herds of sheep for over 10 years in Ireland.
- Over 100 US cities hold a parade every year on St. Patricks Day.
- 15 million greeting cards are exchanged on St. Patricks Day alone and 10 percent of all St Patricks Day cards are sold in New York only.
- Patrick is known as a hero in Ireland and there are about 60 churches and cathedrals named for him in Ireland.
- Patricks Day is a national holiday in the United States.
St Patricks Day Trivia Questions For Seniors
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The Irish Were Once Scorned In America
While Irish Americans are now proud to showcase their heritage, the Irish were not always celebrated by fellow Americans. Beginning in 1845, a devastating potato blight caused widespread hunger throughout Ireland. While approximately 1 million perished, another 2 million abandoned their land in the largest-single population movement of the 19th century. Most of the exilesnearly a quarter of the Irish nationcame to the shores of the United States. Once they arrived, the Irish refugees were looked down upon as disease-ridden, unskilled and a drain on welfare budgets.
Read more about Irish immigration to the United States here.
St Patrick Was A Slave
At 16, St Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders who attacked his family’s estate. They took him to Ireland where they sold him as a slave. He spent many years herding sheep and learning about the Irish people. It wasn’t until he was 22 years old that he was able to escape. He had a dream in which God told him to flee Ireland and where he could find a ship to leave. The trip to the coast was estimated to be a 200 mile walk. Once he got to the coast, be boarded a ship that took him to Great Britain.
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St Patrick’s Day History
St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the life of Saint Patrickthe patron saint of Ireland. This influential missionary has been with bringing Christianity to Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day takes place on March 17 each year because St. Patrick’s death is believed to have been on . The Church began observing a special feast to honor him on this day starting in 1631.
St Patrick’s Day Trivia Questions And Answers
Question: What are some other names used to refer to St. Patricks Day?Answer: The Day of the Festival of Patrick and The Feast of Saint Patrick
Question: The first-ever St. Patricks Day Parade in 1762 didnt take place in Ireland as you might have thought. Where did it take place?Answer: The United States
Question: Green hasnt always been associated with Saint Patricks Day. That actually didnt happen until when?Answer: 1798
Question: Each year in Chicago since 1962, the Plumber Union dyes what Kelly green?Answer: The river
Question: To celebrate St. Pattys Day in Ireland, Dublin hosts a huge festival that lasts how many days?Answer: Four days
Question: What was St. Patricks Day originally mean to celebrate?Answer: It was a day honoring Saint Patrick for introducing Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century.
Question: What mythological being is a part of St. Patrick’s Day lore and Irish culture?Answer: Leprechauns
Question: Where was the first St. Patricks Day parade in Ireland held in 1903?Answer: Waterford, Ireland
Question: According to Irish legends, Saint Patricks changed his name to Patricius after becoming a priest. What was his name at birth?Answer: Maewyn Succat
Question: Even though its a big drinking day now, St. Pattys Day used to be a dry holiday up until what decade?Answer: The 1970s
Question: Before becoming a priest, Saint Patrick was abducted and brought to Northern Ireland at what age?Answer: 16
Answer: Buenos Aries
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Read The Story Of St Patrick To The Residents
Before you eat or celebrate St. Patricks Day this year with day trips, games, or crafts, gather the whole community together in the lounge and tell the story of St. Patrick. You can find a different version each year or read the same version every time. This will get everyone in the mood to celebrate this Friday.
Cold Weather Helped St Patrick’s Claim To Fame
In Irish lore, St. Patrick gets credit for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. Modern scientists suggest that the job might not have been too hardâaccording to the fossil record, Ireland has never been home to any snakes. Through the Ice Age, the island was too cold to host any reptiles, and the surrounding seas have staved off serpentine invaders ever since. Modern scholars think the “snakes” St. Patrick drove away were likely metaphorical.
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For Some St Patrick’s Day Parades It’s The Thought That Counts
Not every city goes all-out in its celebratory efforts. From 1999 to 2007, the Irish village of Dripsey proudly touted that it hosted the Shortest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the World. The route ran for 26 yards between two pubs. Today, Hot Springs, Arkansas, claims the title for brevityâa mere 98 feet.
Corned Beef And Cabbage Was An American Innovation
Corned Beef and cabbage.
Bhofack2/Getty Images
The meal that became a St. Patricks Day staple across the countrycorned beef and cabbagewas an American innovation. While ham and cabbage were eaten in Ireland, corned beef offered a cheaper substitute for impoverished immigrants. Irish-Americans living in the slums of lower Manhattan in the late 19th century and early 20th, purchased leftover corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. The Irish would boil the beef three timesthe last time with cabbageto remove some of the brine.
Read more about Irish-American traditions here.
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Easy St Patricks Day Trivia Questions
St Patrick’s Day Used To Be A Dry Holiday
As you might expect, St. Patrick’s Day is a huge deal in his old stomping grounds. It’s a national holiday in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, but up until the 1970s, pubs were closed on that day. Before that time, the saint’s feast day was considered a more solemn, strictly religious occasion. Now, the country welcomes hordes of green-clad tourists for parades, drinks, and perhaps the reciting of a few limericks.
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St Patricks Day Fun Facts
1) Was St. Patrick Irish?
No. According to St. Patricks autobiography, he states that he was born in a town called Bannavem Taburniae. However, this town doesnt show up on any map and experts disagree on the country of origin. Some experts believe this town was in Scotland, Wales, or Britain around 385 AD. The majority of the sites I visited listed Britain as his birth place.
2) If he wasnt Irish, how did he become associated with Irish history?
He was kidnapped by Irish raiders at the age of 16 and sold as a slave in Ireland. He escaped at the age of 22 after having a dream sent from God in which he was told to leave Ireland. He made his way to England where he studied to become a priest and later returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary and spread the word of God for forty years.
3) What was St. Patricks real name?
His real name was thought to be Maewyn Succat and he took the name St. Patrick after becoming a priest.
4) Why celebrate on March 17th?
This is the day of St. Patricks death and his entrance into heaven. This is St. Patricks feast day.
5) Why are Shamrocks associated with St. Patricks Day?
St. Patrick used the three leaves of the seamrog plant to explain the Holy Trinity and convert Irish pagans to Christianity. The Shamrock was also supposedly worn to symbolize the cross.
6) Why the color green?
7) Why do we get pinched if you forget to wear green?
8) Why is drinking associated with St. Patricks Day?
Other St. Patricks Day Fun Facts
The First St Patricks Day Parade Was Held In America
Men march in the 1895 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City.
Museum of the City of New York/Byron Collection/Getty Images
While people in Ireland had celebrated St. Patrick since the 1600s, the tradition of a St. Patricks Day parade began in America and actually predates the founding of the United States.
Records show that a St. Patricks Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade, and a St. Patricks Day celebration a year earlier were organized by the Spanish Colony’s Irish vicar Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in Boston in 1737 and in New York City on March 17. Enthusiasm for the St. Patricks Day parades in New York City, Boston and other early American cities only grew from there. In 2020 and 2021, parades throughout the country, including in New York City and Boston were canceled or postponed for the first time in decades due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.
Read more about the history of St. Patricks Day celebrations here.
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Great For The Pub Classroom Or Social Club
This fun, free quiz is great for St Patrick’s Day or any Irish-themed activity. The questions cover general knowledge, history, folklore, geography and the arts. It is suitable for many social situationsfrom family parties, classroom settings, club or pub quizzes.
- You are welcome to use it for any non-profit making venture.
- The answers can be seen in italics next to each question.
- Feel free to add your own quiz questions in the Comments box at the end!
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13. There are two autobiographical writings from St. Patrick himself, including Confessio and Letter to Coroticus.
14. Traditionally, Catholic families go to church in the morning on St. Patrick’s Day, and partake in a meal that includes cabbage and Irish bacon.
15. Dublin’s first official celebration of St. Patrick’s Day did not occur until 1931.
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St Patricks Day History
Do you really believe that St. Patricks day is only about wearing Green clothing, Shamrocks and leprechauns? There is actually much more than that! To get to know the depth of the St. Patricks day celebrations, have a look at some brief history about St. Patrick.
- Who was St. Patrick? A person who was born in Great Britain to really well-off parents near the end of around the 4th century. At the young age of 16 years, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and was taken away from England to Ireland. For over a long period of 10 years, he used to tend herds of sheep in Ireland but one day he took a chance and ran away from the hold of the ones who kidnapped him. He succeeded in coming back to England and took a safe refuge in Monastery. He became a priest and decided to take his all teachings back to Ireland. He set up a Christian church in Ireland. He started studying Monasteries in Gaul and became a priest, he changed his name to Patricius meaning Father Figure. Later on, he became Bishop and continued serving Christianity. St. Patricks Day is supposed death date i.e. 17th March. He is buried in Downpatrick in present-day Northern Ireland.
- Is Green the Real color for St. Patricks Day? According to a number of historians, the official color of St. Patricks day is not green. Surprised? The official color for St. Patricks day is the lighter shade of Blue.