Thought Provoking Thursday: St. Patty's Day

Some interesting facts you may or may not know.

1. St. Patrick was not Irish.  He was born in Britain, kidnapped by pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland.  But he is the Patron Saint of the Irish.

2.  His real name was Maewyn Succat.

3. He did not run snakes out of Ireland.  The snakes are representative of the Druidic religions that disappeared as he converted the people of Ireland to Christianity.

4.  He used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.

5. Celtic Druids threw him in prison many times because of his teaching Christianity.

6.  The actual color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick's Day during the 19th century.

7. Green, in Irish legends, was actually an unlucky color, as fairies and immortals were said to steal people, especially children, who wore too much of the color.

8. St. Patrick is believed to be the first person to speak out against slavery.

9. He died March 17, 461

10. By law, pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick's Day, a national religious holiday, as recently as the 1970s.
11. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the U.S., not Ireland.


12.  There are more Irish in America, than in Ireland right now, the city of Boston claiming the most.

13.  The Irish do not celebrate the holiday with corned beef, that is strictly an American tradition.