HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Today is St. Patrick's Day. For some crazy reason this is one of my favorite holidays. I think that it was more fun back when I was in public school, but I still like it. When I was little, my grandpa babysat me the night before. He told me all of the traditions of St. Patrick's Day and the folklore of the Irish people in general. He made it sound really magical. And I'm into that stuff.

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday
St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.

Facts about Saint Patrick
St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.

Facts about the Irish
34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
The name “lephrechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Facts about Clovers
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

In the US, Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green clothing. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched. Alcohol is the center of many American celebrations.Some cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago even dyes its river green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Indianapolis dyes its Central Canal green. University of Missouri Rolla - St. Pat's Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks Kelly green with mops before the annual parade.

In the United States, many people have also made the holiday a celebration of the color green. These people, besides wearing green on that day, may also stage dinner parties featuring all green foods. An example of such a menu would be chicken with rice and lima beans with sliced green maraschino cherries in coconut sauce colored with green food coloring, a green salad including greens, avocados and sliced green apples, split pea soup, green tinted bread spiced with sage, Lime Jell-O, iced limeade and/or a green-beer, and lime pudding, key lime pie, or lime sherbet for dessert. Corned beef and cabbage is the most common meal eaten in the United States for St. Patrick's Day, even though historically, corned beef and cabbage is an American (rather than a traditionally Irish) meal.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to remove shyness and give you the "gift of gab." It is now in a castle and people really do go and kiss it.

So you lay down on your back and arch backwards to kiss that. Those three bars and some one holding your feet are really all that keep you from falling through to the ground.

Fun Facts

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

St. Patrick was actually of Scottish descent, not Irish, and contrary to popular folklore he never chased any snakes out of Ireland.

Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage -- including our first President, George Washington.

Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of Spring.

The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the holy spirit in the Christian religion.

The city with the largest population of Americans of Irish descent is Boston (23%).

On average, every American consumes 22 gallons of beer per year.

The moon shining liquor that was outlawed in the late 1700s for its extreme potency is called Poteen and has recently been reintroduced to the market.

At one time, there were more Irish living in New York City, than in Dublin, Ireland.

Corned beef is strictly an American invention, the Irish don't actually eat it to celebrate the day.

St. Patrick’s isn’t a big drinking holiday in Ireland. In fact, many of the local pubs are closed for the day.

Leprechauns are the official shoe makers of the fairy kingdom.

Shamrocks are the national flower of Ireland and are picked on St. Patrick's Day and worn on the shoulder.

The ancient Irish used to wear green to show their love for the harvest gods.

34.5 million U.S residents claim Irish ancestry, that is 9 times the current population of Ireland.

It is considered lucky to find a four leaf clover on St. Patrick's Day.

Over 41.5 billion pounds of beef are produced each year for St. Patrick's Day, with the majority of it coming from Texas and over 2.5 billion pounds of cabbage are produced with the majority grown in California.

Over 8 million St. Patrick's Day cards are exchanged in America making today the ninth-largest card selling occasion in the US.

Over 94 million people plan to wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease.

The Oscar was handcrafted by an Irishman, Cedric Gibbons, who was born in Dublin in 1823.

Bailey's Irish Cream which was launched in Ireland in the early seventies, is now the most popular liqueur in the world.

The phrase, "Drowning The Shamrock" is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Erin go Braugh means "Ireland Forever!"

Leprechauns are actually shoemakers. They wear green to blend in with nature. And they really, really freak me out!

SO....

It's time to paint the town green

drink beer with friends

crack jokes in an Irish accent

gorge on lip-smaking Irish delicacies

pin shamrocks on hats and shoulders

kiss the Blarney Stone

join the parade and do an Irish jig with the Irish bands

hunt for Paddy the Leprechaun and get your pot of gold

cry out Erin Go Braugh! every so often and wish good luck to all

let your hair down and enjoy yourself because everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day