St. Patrick’s Day Fun Facts

1. First St. Patrick’s Day parade tookplace in 1737 in Boston. 2. Saint Patrick was not Irish by birth;he was a Romano-Briton Christian missionary born in England. His true givenname was Maewyn Succat. He was taken as a slave to Ireland by a maraudercalled Niall of the Nine hostages. 3. St. Patrick’s Day did not become anational holiday in Ireland until 1903 and the first parade wasn’t held inDublin until 1931 4. An estimated 13 million pints of Guinnesswill be consumed on St. Patrick’s Day 2010, according to a Guinness spokesman. {{more}} 5. St. Patrick’s 6. The color originally associated withSt. Patrick was blue; green became associated during the 19th century. 7. Saint Patrick was known for banishingdangerous animals from Ireland, particularly snakes, according to legend. 8. St. Patrick’s celebrations wereoriginally religious festivals. 9. There are more Americans of Irishorigin than there are Irish in Ireland . 10. There are four places in the UnitedStates named Shamrock and nineDublin’s . 11. O’Neill isthe “Irish Capital of Nebraska,” and home to the world’s largest shamrock. 12. The Irishflag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south,and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that bringsthem together as a nation. 13. Today NewYork’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in theworld. 14. Luckyfour-leaf clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith,the third for love and the fourth for luck.