The History of and Fun Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

It’s March! For many of us in the US that means one thing, St. Patrick’s Day! It is a call to celebrate shamrocks, leprechauns, and everything Irish. St. Patrick’s Day, for many, is the day to celebrate Irish heritage through dance, song, and camaraderie. For me, St. Patrick’s Day is the smell of peat bricks burning in my grandparents’ fireplace and spending time with family.

History of St. Patrick’s Day

The day is celebrated on the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick, March 17th. The Irish celebrated it as a purely religious holiday for over 1,000 years. It wasn’t until 1762 that St. Patrick’s Day began to take shape as the holiday we know it as today. The Irish soldiers who were serving in the English military during the Revolutionary War marched down the streets of New York City. They were playing music and dancing to reconnect to their roots and bring Irish pride to the city.  

These celebrations spread throughout the country over the next 50 years supported by Irish Aid Societies that promoted Irish heritage. Cities such as Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Savannah began to have large parades with 10,000 to 20,000 attendants. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations only continued to grow after the potato famine in Ireland in 1845 in which 1 million Irish emigrated to the United States. The holiday served as a connection to the homeland for many Irish people and a beacon at the end of cold winters.  

Ten Interesting Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

1.  In Ireland, St Patrick’s Day is a national holiday where banks, stores, and businesses close for the day.
2. St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish, he was born in Britain in A.D. 390 and was never canonized by the pope making his status as a saint questionable.
3. The original color of St. Patrick’s Day was blue, and the shift to green is credited with Ireland’s nickname of “The Emerald Isle.”
4. The legend of the four-leaf clover is that the four leaves symbolize “hope, faith, love, and luck.”
5. 1962 was the first time Chicago dyed their river green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
6. There is a National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, Ireland that hosts tours in both the day and night.
7. Guinness is the unofficial drink of St. Patrick’s Day. 
8. While the 1762 New York City parade is credited for starting the St. Patrick’s Day tradition in America, the first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade happened in Boston in 1737.
9. There are over 34 million Americans with Irish heritage.
10. There are many St. Patrick’s Day celebrations throughout the world including those in Singapore, Japan, and Russia.