Saint Patrick was (385?-461) was the patron saint of Ireland. Born in Britain, Patrick was a missionary credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.
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The largest statue of St. Patrick is in Saul, Ireland. The statue was built in 1938 at the site where Patrick first preached in Ireland.
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The only town in the world named after St. Patrick is St. Patrick, Mo. In honor of its namesake, the town has a Shrine of St. Patrick, complete with Celtic crosses, a round bell tower and stained glass windows made in Dublin, Ireland.
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The shamrock is a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day because St. Patrick used a three-leaf shamrock in his sermons to represent the Holy Trinity.
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The president of the United States and Ireland’s Taoiseach meet at the White House every St. Patrick’s Day for the traditional Shamrock Ceremony, which symbolizes the friendship between the two countries. During the ceremony, the president is presented with a bowl full of shamrocks.
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The song "I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover” was made popular by Art Mooney (1911-1993) in 1948. In the song, the four leaves signify sunshine, rain, roses and the one I adore.
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March is Irish American Heritage Month.
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Do you know what city dyes their river green every year to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? See answer at end.
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President Grover Cleveland’s (1837-1908) favorite dish was corned beef and cabbage.
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The famous Blarney Stone is embedded in the tower wall of the Blarney Castle in Ireland. More than 200,000 tourists from all over the world travel to the castle every year to kiss the Blarney Stone. It is said that the gift of eloquence goes to all who kiss the stone.
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The oldest Irish organization in the United States is the Charitable Irish Society. The society was formed in 1737 by Irish merchants in Boston.
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Erin Go Bragh means Ireland Forever. The Gaelic phrase is used to express allegiance to Ireland.
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Hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens came to America during Ireland’s potato famine in the mid-1840s. The peak of Irish immigration to America was in 1847.
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Leprechauns are usually portrayed as cobblers. The most popular imagery of a leprechaun was created by Irish poet William Allingham (1824-1889). In his 18th century poem "Fairy Shoemaker” Allingham describes a leprechaun as "a wrinkled, wizen’d, and bearded Elf, spectacles stuck on his pointed nose, silver buckles to his hose, leather apron [with a] shoe in his lap.”
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The logo for the Boston Celtics NBA team is a leprechaun wearing a vest decorated with shamrocks, smoking a pipe and balancing a basketball on his finger.
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Lucky the Leprechaun has been the mascot for Lucky Charms since the cereal was introduced in 1962. The mascot was changed to Waldo the Wizard in 1975. However, Waldo was less popular then Lucky and the next year the leprechaun magically reappeared.
Answer: Chicago. Every year the pipefitters union pours vegetable dye into the river to turn the water green. The first year the river was dyed, in 1962, 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used and the water stayed green for a week. Today, they use 40 pounds of dye, which keeps the river green for several hours during the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? E-mail knowitall@smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 x114.
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