10 Very Interesting Facts about Saint Patrick’s Day
6. According to popular belief, green is the color associated with St Patrick and thus it is used extensively on this day. But St Patrick was actually associated with the color blue, and green was only an offshoot of Irish beliefs and legends.
7. As assumed and is known, St Patrick’s Day is not a national holiday only in Ireland. On an island in the Caribbean, called Montserrat, St Patrick’s Day is celebrated with as much enthusiasm as in Ireland. This is owing to the almost 4000 Irish people inhabiting the tiny island. They are descendants of the Irish emigrants who moved to Montserrat in the 17th century.
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8. According to popular legend, St Patrick drove the snakes away from Ireland. But in reality there were never any snakes in Ireland because the weather there is not habitable for snakes. The term “snakes” may have been used to symbolize the pagan beliefs and practices during his time.
9. Nebraska, the capital of Ireland, houses the world’s largest shamrock. Up until the 1980s, a huge shamrock used to be drawn on the motorway every year. But in 1998, the townspeople collected money and made a permanent concrete shamrock, which is technically the world’s largest.
10. Drinking is a very popular activity associated with St Patrick’s Day complete with even accepted public drunkenness! But until 1970, the day was observed as a religious occasion in Ireland, drinking was prohibited and all pubs were shut. Later, the day was re-classified as a national holiday and allowed pubs to be open again.
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