Thursday, March 17, 2011

And Now, Five Random Facts About St. Patrick's Day:


#1.) St. Patrick Wasn't Irish. We've said it before and we'll say it again . . . St. Patrick wasn't actually Irish! He was born in Scotland or Wales, and brought to Ireland as a slave. Also, his name wasn't Patrick . . . his given name was Maewyn.

#2.) Until 1970, Irish Bars Closed On St. Patrick's Day. In 1903, St. Patrick's Day was named a national holiday in Ireland. Nice tribute . . . but in Ireland, bars have to close on national holidays. That was overturned in 1970.

#3.) America Is Far More Irish Than Ireland. There are more than 35 million Americans with Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is 4.2 million.

#4.) Four Out Of Five Americans Wear Green Today. And about 20 million, or about one out of 13, go to a bar.

#5.) It's Really Easy To Dye The Chicago River. The Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day . . . and it only takes 40 pounds of green vegetable dye to do it. That green lasts for a few days.

2 comments:

  1. I'll pull a little bit of green, but I'll be ditching the bar-not my thing!!!

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  2. Yeah- me either. I think the whole drinking thing is more for the non-Irish.

    ReplyDelete