St. Patrick's Day: Seven things that you did not know about the patron saint of Ireland

St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland every year on March 17 for more than 1000 years.

Over the years, the religious holiday, which is reminiscent of the death of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, has transformed into a day of the celebration of Irish culture through parades, music, special foods, dances and a lot of green – the color that is usually connected to the saint.

Many symbols and legends associated with Ireland, such as Kobold and Schamrocks come from Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick, who was attributed to Christianity to Irish Ireland at the time, used Celtic symbols such as goblins, which was assumed to connect the country to Christianity. Legend says that he selected Shamrocks (three -leaf intersections) as a symbol of the church and used his three leaves to explain the concept of sacred trinity to his followers.

Today Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more than 200 countries worldwide. It is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Neufundland and Labrador as well as the British territory in overseas in Montserrat – both have inhabitants with Irish descent.

In the United States, the Chicago River is at Saint Patrick's Day annually with a dye of £ 40 (from the original 100, around environmental damage) and the river for a few hours to minimize from the original duration of one week.

St. Patrick's Day is also celebrated by people such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Argentina, especially Irish diaspora.

But who was St. Patrick and why is he so famous?

Here are seven facts about St. Patrick that you may not know:

1. Saint Patrick was not Irish

St. Patrick was born in the late 4th century in Great Britain – not in Ireland.

At the age of 16 he was kidnapped by Irish Raiders who sold him as a slave to use sheep. He escaped, went back to Great Britain and refuge in a monastery. Years later he became a priest and traveled through Europe and studied Christianity for 16 years.

Finally he returned to Ireland to convert the pagan country at the time into Christianity.

2. The color of St. Patrick was blue – not green

While today we connect St. Patrick – and everything Irish – with the color green, the saint was originally portrayed with blue robes. In fact, this special blue tone (today known as Azure Blue) was called “St.

Green became popular in the 18th century when the dissatisfaction with English rule grew and the Irish independence movement began to use the Shamrock (connected to St. Patrick) as a symbol of unity and resistance. The color green became sympathy with Irish independence.

Today Azure Blue – or rather, St. Patrick's Blue – Ireland's official heraldic color remains.

3. His real name was not Patrick

The original name of St. Patrick was Maewyn Succat and he was born as the son of Christian parents in Roman Great Britain.

His father was a deacon and his grandfather, a priest. But St. Patrick (according to his own report) was not religious as a child. He was renamed Patricus after becoming a priest, whom he then switched to Patrick after returning to Ireland.

4. Saint Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland

The popular legend says that St. Patrick was on a hill, Croagh Patrick (now an important place of pilgrimage in Ireland), and banished all snakes from Ireland with a wooden staff. Every year over 100,000 people climb the Holy Mountain.

However, scientists say that there are never any snakes in the island station.

However, the “exhaustion of the snakes” could be true at the metaphorical level in the extermination of paganism from Ireland and the triumph of Christianity.

5. The day of St. Patrick was originally a religious holiday, not a day to celebrate

In 1903 Irish law declared the day of St. Patrick's day for religious compliance.

Until the 1970s, the pubs were closed on March 17 according to Irish law.

In 1995 the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day to bring tourism into the country and to show the Irish culture of the world.

Today it is celebrated as a day of drinking, beating and parades, on which many dress up as goblins.

6. St. Patrick's Day Parades started in America – not Ireland

Although Saint Patrick's Day was celebrated in Ireland for over a millennia, the famous parades, which originally started in the 18th century, began in America.

The first specific parade to St. Patrick's Day took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737, but the modern parades we see today have their roots in a parade celebration from 1762 in New York.

For disadvantaged Irish immigrants in America – forced to escape Ireland for famine and not to be able to find jobs in America on arrival – the day of St. Patrick became a source of pride and celebration, a way to connect with their Irish roots.

7. Nobody knows exactly where St. Patrick is buried

Although several locations identify as St. Patrick's Battierplatz, nobody knows exactly where the saint is buried.

The most popular locations include the Down Cathedral in the city of Downpatrick in Northern Ireland, which are also the grave location for the other St. Ireland, Brigid and Columba as well as Saul, as well as Saul. However, some state that St. Patrick can be buried in Glastonbury Abbey in England.