May the luck of the Irish be with you today and throughout the year! Another St. Patrick’s Day has rolled around and many Saskatchewanians are decked out in green today as we honour the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. You may be surprised to know green wasn’t always the colour of St. Patrick’s Day and that St. Patrick wasn’t his real name. Here are some surprising fun facts about this day in green.
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade is believed to have been in the year 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. However, there are also reports saying New York City was the first place in North America to host the parade back in 1762. In Canada, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred in Montreal in 1824.
Folklore says we’re supposed to wear green on March 17th otherwise we may be pinched by someone if we don’t. Interestingly enough, it’s said that St. Patrick actually wore blue and that green was not considered a lucky colour in those days. It’s also believed that St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. Scholars claim he was actually born in the United Kingdom before being kidnapped at a young age and sent to Ireland. Later in life he’d become a missionary and move back to Ireland to spread Christianity before dying in approximately 461 AD. Speaking of St. Patrick, experts think his real name was Maewyn Succat before changing his name to “Patrick” when he became a Bishop.
According to Stats Canada, over 4.6 million Canadians identify as Irish with the majority living in Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador is the only place in Canada where March 17th is considered a stat holiday for some workers in the province. Elsewhere, Chicago dyes their main river through the city green in honour of the day with a nontoxic dye that usually disappears after a couple of days.
When it comes to celebrating, beer drinking was never associated with St. Patrick’s Day until much later. Because of the religious nature of the day, March 17th was actually a “dry day,” meaning alcohol was not consumed and pubs were closed in Ireland. Things changed in the 1970’s and beer and pub-going became a major part of the celebrations. It’s also believed approximately 13 million pints of Guinness are served around the world just on March 17th alone!
Oh, and those little leprechauns we hear about every year? Apparently there are no female leprechauns. Only males, experts say. One would have to ask who actually spent the time researching that tid-bit and how did they do it?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
