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March 17, 2008
St. Patrick's Day
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!
The following information comes from http://www.irishabroad.comDid you know?
St. Patrick: fact and fantasy
- St. Patrick is supposed to have driven the snakes out of Ireland. Certainly, there are no snakes in Ireland — but there are none in New Zealand either and St. Patrick never visited there. The story that St. Patrick banished the snakes is more likely to have been invented in the 12th century by a Northumbrian monk named Jocelyn.
- The first St. Patrick’s Day parade on record was held in New York in 1762 and seems to have been primarily designed as a recruiting rally by the English army in North America. Nowadays, St. Patrick’s Day parades are held on almost every continent of the world.
- St. Patrick’s Day is also a public holiday on the Caribbean island of Monsterrat. The origins of the island’s celebrations date back to the 17th century when Oliver Cromwell was instrumental in forcing quite a number of Irish immigrants to move there. Names like Murphy, Kirwan and O’Malley are still commonplace on the island.
- Legend has it that St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock as a teaching aid to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan King Laoghaire.
If you are interesting in reading more about St. Patrick, visit IrishAboard.com
Posted by d-nadler at March 17, 2008 03:32 PM