St Patrick's Day

Here's a pretty good article about St. Pat's Day. Among the Highlights

• St. Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who lived during the fourth century. He is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.
• St. Patrick was born in Britain as Maewyn Succat. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland where he became a shepherd and took solace in religion
• He is also credited with driving the snakes from Ireland, believed to be symbolic of him putting an end to pagan religions in Ireland,
• Until the 1970s, Irish laws called for even pubs to be closed due to the religious nature of the holiday, but in an effort to spur tourism and showcase Ireland, the law was changed in 1995.
• When some of the first Catholic Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day, they were portrayed as drunk and violent. But their sheer numbers as part of the voting "green machine" began to make a difference to political candidates. Suddenly, the Irish and St. Patrick's Day celebrations gained more importance in America.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 34.7 million U.S. residents who have some degree of Irish ancestry, which is about nine times the population of Ireland. It is the nation's second most reported ancestry, following those with German ancestry.
• At one time, wearing green was considered in Ireland to bring bad luck because mystical fairies of Ireland were believed to steal children who wore too much green.
• Some sources say the first St. Patrick's Day parade was held not in Ireland but New York City; others say Boston. Either way, though parades are now a huge part of the celebration in Ireland, that's not where they began.