St. Patrick's Day is an iconic day of national Irish celebration worldwide, with more than 50 national monuments turning green, including, The London Eye and The Empire State Building. Not only this, the city of Chicago even turns their river green! However, did you know the origins of St. Patrick’s Day are a little different to what we now know, so let’s bust a few myths while we are here, so sit back, sip a whiskey and read away.
• Although St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland, he is in fact originally from what is now modern-day Wales.
• The original colour was believed to be Blue, which would have been associated with Irish who had joined Police forces and had asked permission to walk in honour of St. Patrick in the form of a parade. The first parade was held in Boston in 1737.
• Ireland never had snakes which St. Patrick gets credit for. However, the real meaning here is that the symbol of Paganism was a snake, so he rid Ireland of snakes in how he brought religion to Ireland. If we are to follow the original narrative, let it be known that Tullamore D.E.W. got rid of the dinosaurs, penguins and koalas.
So, there you have it. St Patrick’s Day is a big wonderful green lie, but it won’t stop us finding an excuse to celebrate our Irish-ness and the incredible closeness we have with our nearest neighbours.