- First St. Patrick's Day parade took place in 1737 in Boston
- Saint Patrick was not Irish by birth; he was a Romano-Briton Christian missionary born in England
- St. Patrick's Day did not become a national holiday in Ireland in 1903
- The first parade wasn't held in Dublin until 1931
- It is La Fheile Padraig--St. Patrick's Day--in Irish
- An estimated 13 million pints of Guinness will be consumed on St. Patrick's Day 2010, according to a Guinness spokesman (holy cow)
- St. Patrick's true given name was Maewyn Succat
- The color originally associated with St. Patrick was blue
- Green became associated during the 19th century
- Saint Patrick was known for banishing dangerous animals from Ireland, particularly snakes, according to legend (but you knew that)
- St. Patrick's celebrations were originally religious festivals--and not that long ago, either
- There are more Americans of Irish origin than there are Irish in Ireland (36 million Americans claimed Irish ancestry in 2008; population of Ireland was 4.4 million at the time)
- The number of people in the US with actual Irish blood is decreasing mightily, over time
- There are four places in the United States named Shamrock (West Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma)
- There are nine Dublins in the US (Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio are most populous)
- The first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City was 1762
- The first St. Patrick's Day parade in Kansas City was 1873 but the tradition died off until...
- Mike Murphy--God rest his soul--and friends rejuvenated the St. Patrick's Day Parade tradition rather famously here in Kansas City with an impromptu "parade" out of their bar and around the block on the 100th anniversary, in 1973. It grew, yearly, after that, of course, to what it is today.
- If we hit 83 degrees today--as we well might--this will break a record and make it the warmest and most comfortable St. Patrick's Day for our parade, ever here in Kansas City. Faith and begorrah!
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/17/st-patricks-day-history-m_n_502386.html#s74430
Posts
2 comments:
I'm 25 percent Irish and I guess I should be proud of that, at least TODAY!. Pouring green beer over my website is the best I can do.
Thanks for the history, I found it interesting. MY grandma kissed the Blarney stone and was very proud of that. My kids have been over there, but I've never traveled across the pond to see my roots. I do like potatoes tho!
You're welcome, of course RDM. Happy to do what I can.
Yes, I believe I'm truly 25% Irish as Grandfather was Irish. (McCall). Billy McCall came over from the homeland. I'd love to cross the pond but it just ain't happenin', at least not the foreseeable future.
And yeah, I love potatoes.
Again, enjoy...
Post a Comment