In college, St. Patrick’s Day revolves around a day of green, celebration and drinking. We think about shamrocks, leprechauns and pots of gold. These ideas can easily be attributed to movies and how they illustrate the day. We’re debunking the ideas that we have of St. Patrick’s Day!
St. Patty’s Color: Green
We associate this holiday with green. Even if you don’t wear green, you’re bound to be pinched. But, originally, according to the History Channel, knights in the Order of St. Patrick wore a shade of blue. It is assumed that the declaration of Irish Independence focused around the color green and that has stuck since.
It’s an excuse to party
In Ireland, the holiday was celebrated in church in a more quiet environment, usually consisting of prayer. When immigrants came to America, they used the holiday to celebrate their origins, which, over time, turned into parties and beer.
St. Patrick isn’t Irish
Spoiler alert: he wasn’t Irish. He was actually born in an area near England and later on, after being held captive by Irish raiders, according to literature, he lived in Ireland, which is where his association began.
Four-leaf clovers
While these have ended up being associated with luck, they weren’t even an Irish symbol to begin with. It originated with St. Patrick, but as a three-leaf clover representing the Trinity symbol in Christianity–not luck and not four-leaves. Shamrocks only grow in Ireland, actually. What we see are known as clovers.
St. Patrick didn’t drive snakes out of Ireland
Although he’s known around the world for driving out the snakes in Ireland, that’s not really the case. Historians believe that this was misinterpreted, as snakes can represent evil in old literature. Snakes aren’t currently in Ireland mostly because it’s surrounded by water.
If some of these caught you by surprise, remember them when you’re out celebrating or test your friends’ knowledge. It’s amazing how history can change over time!