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Saint Patrick's Day Trivia

1. St. Patrick's Day marks the Roman Catholic feast day for Ireland's patron saint.

2. St. Patrick was born in Britain.

3 St. Patrick was a pagan before he converted to Christianity.

4. St. Patrick's father, Calpurnius, was a high ranking Roman official.

5. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, to commemorate the day he died in the 5th century, around 460 AD.

6. It is legend, not truth, that St. Patrick drove all of the snakes from Ireland. Snakes have never been native to Ireland.

7. The first official St. Patrick's Day parade was held in Colonial New York City in 1762. It was organized by Irish soldiers serving in the English military.

8. St. Patrick was 16 years old when a group of Irish raiders took him prisoner while attacking his family's estate.

9. Patrick spent six years in captivity as a slave in Ireland before he escaped. He later studied to become a priest and returned to Ireland to spread the Christian faith.

10. St. Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat. He took the name Patrick after becoming a priest.

11. The name Patrick is derived from the Latin "Patricius" (meaning noble.)

12. It is rumored that St. Patrick used a 3 leafed Shamrock (clover) to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

13. A lucky Shamrock has 4 leaves. (A 4 leafed clover is very rare)

14. The Shamrock is the national flower of Ireland.

15. Eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day is an American custom. The traditional St. Patrick's Day dish in Ireland is bacon and cabbage.

16. Americans started the tradition of wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. Green was considered an unlucky color in Ireland.

17. Green beer on St. Patrick's Day is an American tradition, not Irish.

18. There are 34 million people in the U.S. who claim Irish ancestry.

19. Irish is the leading ancestry group in the states of Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

20. Middlesex County, Massachusetts, has the highest population of Irish-Americans in the U.S. (348,978) Norfolk County, Massachusetts, is second, with a population of 203,285 Irish-Americans.

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