- St. Patrick was not Irish; he was actually English.
- St. Patrick's color was blue, not green. The significance of the color green may have come from Ireland's green countryside.
- The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in New York in the 1760s.
- According to Irish legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock as a preaching tool.
- The odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000.
- It takes 45 pounds of vegetable-based dye to turn the Chicago River green for five hours.
- There are more people with Irish ancestry in the USA (34 million) than in Ireland (4.2 million).
What does St. Patrick's Day mean to you? Do you have any Irish ancestors?
Liwen Y. Ho is an Amazon bestselling author of contemporary romance, both sweet and inspirational. A marriage and family therapist in her pre-author life, she enjoys creating realistic characters and helping them find their happily-ever-afters. She lives in California with her techie husband and their two munchkins, and blogs about life as a recovering perfectionist.
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Interesting facts, Liwen. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSure thing, Mary! Glad you found them interesting.
DeleteVery interesting - I hadn't heard several of those!
ReplyDeleteThat makes two of us! :) My son saw my research and told his teacher about these facts, too.
DeleteThanks for the interesting facts. I have some Irish ancestry. My hubby is half Irish.
ReplyDeleteOh, cool! I'm guessing you're both wearing green today? :)
DeleteThanks for the interesting facts, Liwen. My daughter is currently in Ireland studying for her Master's Degree. She also received her undergrad degree there, so my husband and I have traveled to Ireland many times these past 5 years!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that's so cool! It's like a home away from home for you. :)
DeleteI have some Irish blood on my Mom's side. I actually thought St. Patrick was Italian. I looked it up and saw he was born in Roman Britain. Who would have thought. LOL. It's fun to learn new things. Thanks Liwen.
ReplyDeleteIt was a surprise to me, too! We're never too old to keep learning. :)
DeleteThe facts are interesting! I have at least one family of ancestors on my mother's side that came from Ireland.
ReplyDeleteOh neat! Hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day!
DeleteInteresting facts! We lived in Chicago for a while when I was a kid and we used to go up every year to my dad's office to watch the river turn green from his window.
ReplyDelete