Saint Patrick’s Day, 17th March 2015

About St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day, also commonly known as St. Paddy’s Day or Paddy’s Day, commemorates the life and work of the Patron Saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick who was deemed to have brought Christianity to Ireland.

It takes place on the 17th of March annually, the anniversary of his death, and comprises a fun celebration of the Irish heritage and culture!

St. Patrick’s Day is typically celebrated with festivals and parades featuring concerts, fireworks and outdoor theatre performances, as well as Ceilidhs (Gaelic folk music and dancing) and lots of drinking!  On St. Patrick’s Day it is also customary to dress up in green, eat green food and drink green beer.

The biggest celebrations are held in Dublin with other Irish towns and villages holding their own festivals and parades. However, it also widely celebrated around the world, and not just by the Irish, but anyone who would like to join in!

We recommend you get a cheap flight to Dublin for an authentic St. Patrick’s Day experience!

Fun St. Patrick’s Day Facts

  1. The three-leaved shamrock is a symbol of Patrick’s Day because he was said to use it to explain the Holy Trinity to the Pagan Irish.
  2. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
  3. The American city of Chicago has been celebrating this special day by adding green dye to Chicago River since 1962. Forty tons of dye are required to get it to a suitably festive green colour!
  4. New York City’s Patrick’s Day parade is one of the largest in the world with approximately 250,000 people taking part every year.
  5. From 1903 to 1970, Patrick’s Day was considered strictly a religious holiday in Ireland, meaning that all the nation’s pubs were closed accordingly. As of the aforementioned date, St. Patrick’s Day was reclassified a national holiday thus the beer happily resumed flowing!
  6. Although it is custom to wear green clothes, eat green food and drink green beer in commemoration of Saint Patrick’s use of the shamrock, he actually used to wear blue.
  7. Legend says that Saint Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland although there is no evidence that snakes have ever existed in Ireland.
  8. The odds of finding a three-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000.
  9. The first Patrick’s Day parade took place in Boston on March the 18th 1737.
  10. According to representatives of the ever popular Irish Guinness, an average 5.5 million pints of Guinness are sold daily. On Patrick’s Day this increases to 13 million!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!