{"id":174,"date":"2011-03-16T10:25:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T09:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.theactivitypeople.co.uk\/?p=174"},"modified":"2013-12-20T03:17:04","modified_gmt":"2013-12-20T02:17:04","slug":"ten-brilliant-st-patricks-day-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/ten-brilliant-st-patricks-day-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Brilliant St Patrick’s Day Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"4-leaf-clover1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here we go again, activity fans: time for clovers and flags and silly green hats, as well as a certain dark beer.<\/p>\n

But how much do you really know about this age old and worldwide celebration?<\/p>\n

If the answer is \u201cnot much\u201d then today is your very lucky day, because The Activity People<\/a> have made a list of their ten favourite St Patrick\u2019s Day<\/a> factoids, and placed them handily one after the other, right here.<\/p>\n

Enjoy them almost as much as the day itself.<\/p>\n

St Patrick, Monster Slayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ok, this article is all about facts, but that\u2019s fine because I\u2019m sure that the following is true.<\/p>\n

Apparently, St Patrick had his hands full from time to time with an Irish beastie or two. It\u2019s said that he rid Ireland of snakes by ringing a great bell from the top of the Croagh Patrick, a 2500 ft tall mountain. His slithering assailants then drowned in the sea.<\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t rest on his laurels, oh no, because he also rid the place of a fierce lake monster too. The kick-ass saint did slay the creature right there on its own turf, turning all the water red with its blood. To this day the lake is known as Lough Derg, or Red Lake. Surely, that\u2019s all the proof we need to assume that this is definitely true.<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, the purpose of folklore is not that it be taken literally as a documentation of fact. Many believe the legend of St Patrick and the snakes was a figurative depiction of his championing Christianity in Ireland, and the decline of druid and pagan religions in the country. So the snakes represent those religions.<\/p>\n

But the fierce lake monster was definitely a fierce lake monster. That had to have happened. Why? Because we say so!<\/p>\n

Anger Management<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By all accounts, St Patrick had a bit of a temper, and wasn\u2019t averse to dishing out the odd curse. Some of his curses even seem to have worked, with only the slightest helping hand from Mother Nature and the good old British weather.<\/p>\n

This combination was effective when SP cursed a field to sink beneath the sea after his oxen were refused permission to graze there.<\/p>\n

Far from abusing his power, however, the saint had a strong sense of justice; once curing a blind man, while making somebody who\u2019d laughed at the unfortunate soul go blind himself.<\/p>\n

Girl Power<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

St Patrick was something of an ideas man, and it was a thought-bubble from that very saintly bonce which initiated the practice of allowing women to defy convention and propose marriage to men on a leap year.<\/p>\n

Until then, society decreed that ladies had to wait for a proposal from an interested suitor; a proposal which may never have been forthcoming. St Paddy\u2019s leap year concept gave women the power to control their own destiny.<\/p>\n

Of course, it only gave them that power for one day every four years or so, and what\u2019s more he couldn\u2019t stop the proposed to guys from saying \u2018no\u2019. But at least it was a start.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re Welcome, Shamrock<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As if killing monsters, curing the sick and giving hope to single ladies wasn\u2019t enough, St Patrick put the shamrock on the map!<\/p>\n

He used a three leaf specimen to illustrate the holy trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost to King Laughire of Tara. Nobody knows if the king understood, or whether he was just being polite. But we do know that from then on the shamrock went from strength to strength and has become a universal symbol, synonymous with all things Ireland, all around the globe. The four leaf variety are, perhaps, most recognisable and are believed to signify rebirth and life. The four leaves are said to represent faith, love, hope and the world famous luck of the Irish.<\/p>\n

Once St Patrick\u2019s Day rolls around, you\u2019re likely to see more than a couple of them hanging around the place.<\/p>\n

Sorry, Blue<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just like the Shamrock itself St Patrick\u2019s Day is a completely green affair. By that we mean that green is the colour draped across pubs, parades, shops and revellers themselves. It is a colour inextricably linked to Ireland and once the time comes to celebrate St Patrick, it\u2019s the colour that steals the show.<\/p>\n

So it may come as a surprise to discover that St Patrick\u2019s favourite colour was blue. What\u2019s more, the whole of Ireland was less than enamoured with green for much of its history. Green was believed to be the colour of immortals, fairies and leprechauns, not a great crowd to be falling in with; and by wearing green you were seen to be doing just that.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, the flag of the nation was blue itself, and adorned with a golden harp, and military men wore \u2018St Patrick\u2019s Blue\u2019 in their uniforms.<\/p>\n

Not until the 19th<\/sup> Century did green become the official colour of Ireland. Now, the colour and its Irish connotations are recognised world over. In Chicago, they dye the entire Chigaco River green to celebrate St Patrick\u2019s Day. Of course, dyeing a river blue would hardly have had the same effect.<\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s Favourite (Scottish) Irishman<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like many an Ireland international footballer, St Patrick wasn\u2019t even Irish. The man that would become a saint was actually from Scotland, and went by the name Maewyn Succat (which, admittedly, doesn\u2019t have the same ring to it).<\/p>\n

Young Maewyn didn\u2019t set foot in Ireland until the age of 16 when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Not a great first impression, but things would eventually get better. Many years later the man became a Priest under the Bishop of Auxerre and took the name Patricius (as in Patrick, do try to keep up).<\/p>\n

The rest, as they say, is history. A history we celebrate every year on the 17th<\/sup> day of March.<\/p>\n

Taking This Show On The Road<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t known exactly when St Patrick\u2019s Day was first celebrated outside of Ireland, but the first written account of the event occurring in England comes from Mr Gulliver\u2019s Travels himself, Jonathan Swift.<\/p>\n

He mentions celebrations taking place in London, circa 1713. According to him Westminster Parliament took a day off and all public buildings were adorned with green (not blue) decorations.<\/p>\n

Similar celebrations have been taking place in the Caribbean since the 17th<\/sup> Century. The island of Montserrat is where the party started, thanks in part to Oliver Cromwell, although only because many Irish fled to Montserrat to get away from him.<\/p>\n

Tonight We\u2019re Going To Party Like It\u2019s 1737<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The guys across the Atlantic have enjoyed a good St Patrick\u2019s shindig for a long time now; and they generally don\u2019t do things by halves.<\/p>\n

The first St Patrick\u2019s Day Parade to be held in America took place in Boston on the 17th<\/sup> March 1737. New York followed suit in 1762, and Chicago just one year after that. The customary dumping of vegetable dye into the river in order to turn it green didn\u2019t start until 1962, but is now one of the many traditions observed in honour of St Paddy and his adopted homeland.<\/p>\n

Now celebrated all over the States, it is the longest running civilian parade in the world. 274 years young and still going strong!<\/p>\n

Fashionably Late<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dublin, itself, has only held a St Patrick\u2019s Day Parade for less than a century, and even then the event was far from being all about partying hard and drinking Guinness (other alcoholic beverages are available).<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 1995 that Dublin\u2019s pubs even opened on the national holiday, because that\u2019s precisely what it was: a \u2018holy day\u2019. Many still honour the event with religious observance, while for others drinking and revelry are as much a part of St Patrick\u2019s Day as the colour green and the man himself.<\/p>\n

Slice of Luck<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019d all like a little loving from Lady Luck. On St Patrick\u2019s Day, it is believed that finding a four leaf clover, wearing green or kissing the Blarney Stone will bring good fortune.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, there are no documented reports of people finding fortune at the bottom of a Guinness glass, but we\u2019re sure that won\u2019t stop most of us looking anyway.<\/p>\n

Wherever it takes you, and whatever it holds, The Activity People would like to wish you all a memorable and fun-filled day of celebration.<\/p>\n

Remember to drink responsibly and watch out for fierce lake monsters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To commemorate St Patrick’s Day 2014, we’ve made a list of our favourite, fun-filled facts concerning the day that the world turns green. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,48,46],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-irish","tag-st-patrick","tag-st-patricks-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}