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St. Patrick’s Day Myths Debunked

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNCW chapter.

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!

 

Kaitlyn is a student at The University of North Carolina Wilmington attaining a degree in communication studies with a focus in public relations and minor in journalism. She will be graduating in May of 2015 with a B.A. In addition to starting a Her Campus chapter at UNCW, she also is a contributing writer for USA TODAY College and has interned for local WILMA magazine and The Greater Wilmington Business Journal. When she's not writing, her time is spent working or reading magazines of all varieties. Kaitlyn plans to move to New York City after graduation to pursue a career in journalism. You can follow her on twitter @KaitlynRussell_