Top 10 Unusual St. Patrick’s Day Facts

Top 10 Unusual St. Patrick’s Day Facts (t)

An Irish blessing: “May you always have...
Walls for the winds, A roof for the rain 
Tea beside the fire, Laughter to cheer you
, Those you love near you, 
And all your heart might desire.”

An Irish toast : “May your blessings outnumber, the shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”

       1. According to his writing, a voice - which he believed to be God's - spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland. After travelling for more than 200 miles by foot, he was eventually given passage on a boat travelling across the Irish Sea. His first destination was Britain. Patrick also reported that he experienced a second revelation - an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary.

       2. Patrick and his 24 followers were invited to Tara by the King of Laoghaire. While he was there he plucked a shamrock from the ground and tried to explain the to the druids and the King that the shamrock had three leaves just like God had three personas - The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. This was called the Trinity. Before the Christian era it was a sacred plant of the Druids of Ireland because its leaves formed a triad.

      3.  While not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, it is Patrick who is said to have encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites. The story holds that he converted the warrior chiefs and princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in the "Holy Wells" that still bear this name.

      4.  The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737.  What's good luck on Saint Patrick's Day?: Finding a four-leaf clover (that's double the good luck it usually is). Wearing green. (School children started this tradition of their own -- they used to pinch classmates who don't wear green on this holiday). Kissing the blarney stone.

      5.  Turning the Chicago river green has been a unique to Chicago for the past 50+ years. A modern day miracle occurs each year as part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration when the Chicago River turns an incredible shade of Irish green. This spectacular transformation is a sight to see. 

    6.   People dress in green clothing and eat food, which is either naturally or dyed green, on St Patrick’s Day. Some people go as far as holding green dinner parties where the guests are expected to wear green and eat exclusively green food.

      7.  36 Million number of U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (slightly more than 4 million). Irish is the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.

      8.   Seattle and other cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick's Day. Originally 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used to turn the river green for a whole week but now only forty pounds of dye is used and the colour only lasts for several hours. The dye starts out looking orange.  It hits the water looking yellow.  And then the magic begins.{See Picture} [24] Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green.

      9.  The number three in Ireland is consider lucky, hence; the shamrock and its three leaves. The Shamrock was also known as the Seamrog, which means; summer plant which comes from the Irish word trefoil, meaning three-leafed. It symbolizes the Trinity of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit; faith, hope and charity; or past, present and future. The number three was utilized in many ways in the Irish culture and ancient Celtic Druid cultures believed that the plant had magical powers such as, the leaves stood straight up to predict approaching storms. Even Irish storytelling is done in the rhythm of triple repetitions.

       10.  In the United States and Canada, consumption of corned beef is often associated with Saint Patrick's Day.[10] Corned beef is not considered an Irish national dish, and the connection with Saint Patrick's Day specifically originates as part of Irish-American culture, and is often part of their celebrations in North America.[11]Corned beef and cabbage became popular in the United States after Irish immigrants in the northeast used corned beef instead of pork in the dish. This substitution was likely due to the low cost of corned beef in the U.S.  More traditional in Ireland is Irish Stew and Soda Bread.