5 Fun Facts About St. Patrick’s Day
Besides drinking green drinks and eating corn beef and cabbage what do you really know about St. Patrick’s Day? Here are five fun facts you can share around the dinner table tonight!
1. The word “shamrock” comes from the Irish word “seamróg,” meaning “little clover.” It is the symbol of Ireland
2. We all get decked out in green on St. Patrick’s Day, but the holiday was originally associated with the color blue. It’s thought that everything shifted to green because of Ireland’s nickname “The Emerald Isle,” the green in the Irish flag and the shamrock, or clover.
3. The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in the Irish village of Dripsey. It lasts only 100 yards, which is the exact distance between the village’s two pubs.
4. St. Patrick was a Christian missionary, bishop and a patron saint of Ireland. He was born in Britain. When he was only sixteen, he was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland, where he spent six years in captivity, working as a shepherd.
5. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the largest parade in the world. It was first held in 1762 by a group of homesick Irish expats and soldiers who served with the British army.