The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in North America took place in—drum roll— Boston in 1737!

For years my dh convinced our three sons that leprechauns snuck into our home the night before St. Paddy’s Day and colored all the drinks in the house green. The boys were all convinced because the beer was colored green and the bottles were capped! What fun those days were! J Sigh. The days of innocence.

St. Patrick’s Day was once a strictly observed religious holiday in Ireland. That means the pubs were closed and there was no public drinking—go figure!

The International Business Times published ten interesting facts about St. Patrick’s Day and I decided to share them with you:

1. St Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was born in England around 385 AD.

2. His given name was Maewyn Succat.

3. St Patrick was a slave. He was captured at the age of 14 and taken to Ireland, where he was enslaved for six years herding sheep before escaping and returning to his family.

4. He never drove serpents out of Ireland, because evidence suggests there were no serpents to be driven out.

5. St Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in the United States. Boston was the scene of the first Paddy’s knees-up in 1737.

6. It wasn’t until the 19th century that green became the colour of St Patrick. Before then it was blue, the colour of his vestments. Green was picked to commemorate St Patrick’s use of the shamrock.

7. There are nine cities, towns and boroughs in the United States called Dublin – they are in California, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia.

8. In Ireland St Patrick’s Day was an alcohol-free holiday until 1970. Before then it was considered a day of relgious observance, meaning pubs had to be closed for business. In 1970 it was reclassified a national holiday.

9. St Patrick’s Day is celebrated on 17 March because that is the day he was thought to have died in 461 AD.

10. In 2013 Census data revealed that the number of people in the US who identify as Irish-American are seven-times more than the amount of Irish people in Ireland itself.

Have a great St. Paddy’s Day!

Cheers,

Jianne

Facts and photo of the Chicago River courtesy: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/10-st-patricks-day-facts-you-might-not-know-1440389