So, we all know that St Patrick’s Day is March 17th, right? But did you know that Saint Patrick wasn’t even Irish? Or did you know that blue is the original color of St. Patrick’s Day? Here are some more interesting facts you may not know about St. Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick wasn’t Irish at all
Saint Patrick was born in 385 A.D. in Wales, to Roman parents. At the age of 16, he was taken by Irish radiers, who sold him into slavery. He escaped at the age of 22, where he went to an England monastery. He died on March 17, 461 A.D.
Blue was St. Patrick’s Day original color
Blue is actually the original color of St. Patrick’s Day and not green, as most people think. The color stayed blue for hundreds of years until it was changed to green, presumably after Saint Patrick began talking about the Irish people and the shamrock.
Boston hosted the 1st St. Patrick’s Day parade
Did you know that the first St. Patrick’s Day parade wasn’t celebrated in Ireland? It was held in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. Ireland did not have it’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade until 1931, held in Dublin.
St. Patrick’s Day was formerly a dry holiday in Ireland
Up until 1970, in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was considered to be a religious holiday and law stated that pubs were to be closed that day. However, in 1970, St. Patrick’s Day was changed to a national holiday, allowing pubs to be opened once again.
There are numerous parades in the U.S
There is said to be more than 100 parades in the United States each year that feature unique themes, colorful floats and Irish music. Fun fact: the shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in Hot Springs, Arkansas, being only 98 feet for the parade route.
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There is a HUGE parade in Boston. We have a large Irish community here.
My son was just asking how this say got its name. Now I can tell him and more.
How crazy to think that everything that St Patricks has become is nothing like it’s origins. It’s definitely not a dry holiday now!!
Good to know a lot about St. Patrick. The truth behind all of this practices.
How interesting! I didn’t know some of these. I have been to a parade before. We’ll be at Disney World on St. Patrick’s Day so I’ll see if anything is done there.
I had no idea about most of these facts, especially about St. Patrick being born in Wales, and about blue being the ex-official color for the holiday. That’s cool!
These are pretty cool to learn about! I didn’t know that blue was the original color. Although I do like the green, it’s lively and more fun!
I always love learning new things about traditions. My son does too. I guess he gets it from me.
I never knew that the original color was Blue!? That is pretty durn cool!
So cool! I still prefer the color green for St Patrick’s Day! I don’t think I’ll take it too seriously if it’s the color blue. Can’t help but reminds me of Smurfs. There’s a parade every year in downtown area.
I had no idea about the color Blue – I just can’t imagine celebrating St. Patricks day without all the green!
The blue color is mind blown. Haha Never knew he just turned into green one.
These are such neat facts! I can’t imagine St. Patty’s day being blue instead of green!
I can’t imagine St. Patrick’s day to be Blue. I guess since he was really into shamrock they decided to just go with green because it’s unique. lol