Happy St. Patrick's Day Post! (Wizbang)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here is the obligatory holiday post to "celebrate" a holiday that's really nothing more than an excuse to drink a lot, wear green, and make being Irish "cool" for a day.

I'm not huge into St. Patrick's Day, if you couldn't tell. I'm not a big drinker, I'm not Irish, and I don't like cabbage (so the corned beef and cabbage dinner is out). I probably won't wear green today, and I won't be drinking green beer either. I also probably won't be listening to any U2. Jacksonville's not really big into St. Pattie's Day, unlike Boston, which is about an hour away from my family in Massachusetts. And in any case, my family's Portugese, not Irish, and so could really care less. (Give us some linguica or chourico, though, and we're there!) In Jacksonville, you'll get the typical people dressed in green drinking green beer at pubs and bars (Lynch's Irish Pub will be packed to capacity -- their annual St. Pattie's celebration is local legend), but there aren't really a whole lot of parades or anything. We certainly don't dye the St. John's River green.

Anyways, I collected some little known St. Patrick's Day facts to honor the holiday:

Americans usually wear green on St. Patrick's Day -- but in Ireland, green was considered to be an unlucky color for a long time. Green was considered the favorite color for the Good People, or faeries, in Irish folklore, and they liked to steal people and especially children who wore too much green.

The original color associated with St. Patrick was blue, not green.

St. Patrick was not born in Ireland -- he was British, and was kidnapped by Irish brigands when he was 16.

Irish-Americans claim the second largest ethnic group in the United States today, second to German-Americans (surprising). There are actually more Americans of Irish ancestry then there are in Ireland!

Guiness, the beer of choice on St. Patrick's Day, was first brewed by Arthur Guiness in Dublin in 1759. 1.9 billion pints of Guiness are consumed around the world every year.

Swedish geographer Ulf Erlingsson recently claimed that Ireland is truly the lost city of Atlantis, identified by Plato in his works Timaeus and Critias.

St. Patrick supposedly used the three-leaved shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish.

March 17th is also home to some other, albeit less well-known, holidays, like:

Submarine Day

Companies That Care Day

Common Courtesy Day

Campfire Girls Day

The rubber band was also invented on March 17th, 1845.

So, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all you Irish folk out there, and to all of you who are just Irish for the day. Have fun, be responsible, and drink some green beer for me!

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Comments (11)

Im Italian not Irish, In an... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by 914 | March 17, 2008 12:11 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

914:

Im Italian not Irish, In any case, I think I will stick to the amber colored beer today.

Posted on March 17, 2008 12:11

"I'm not a big drinker, I'm... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by Knightbrigade | March 17, 2008 1:22 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Knightbrigade:

"I'm not a big drinker, I'm not Irish"

Isn't that redundant? lmao

So that's why I couldn't find you in Southie watchin the parade.....

Posted on March 17, 2008 13:22

Well, aside from the fact t... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Cassy | March 17, 2008 1:31 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Cassy:

Well, aside from the fact that I'm like, 1000 miles away...

Were I in Southie, though, I probably still wouldn't be watching the parade. I'd be in my house, on my computer, blogging about the parade. ;)

Posted on March 17, 2008 13:31

"Swedish geographer Ulf Erl... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by Ulf Erlingsson | March 17, 2008 3:14 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Ulf Erlingsson:

"Swedish geographer Ulf Erlingsson recently claimed that Ireland is truly the lost city of Atlantis, identified by Plato in his works Timaeus and Critias."

Actually not the city of Atlantis. Rather that the memory of the sunken island was preserved on Ireland, perhaps because the ancestors of the fairies came from the sunken city - i.e., Dogger Bank in the North Sea, in the UK exclusive economical zone.

Posted on March 17, 2008 15:14

I won a car on March 17, 19... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by John F Not Kerry | March 17, 2008 3:56 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

John F Not Kerry:

I won a car on March 17, 1995. And I'm half Irish(American)!

Posted on March 17, 2008 15:56

"I won a car on Mar 17 1... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by 914 | March 17, 2008 5:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

"I won a car on Mar 17 1995.And Im half Irish(American)!"

Irish eyes are smilin upon You!

A belated congrat's!! What kind of car? Imao

Posted on March 17, 2008 17:16

Olsmobile Aurora. Stickered... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by John F Not Kerry | March 17, 2008 6:38 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Olsmobile Aurora. Stickered at the time at $33,000. Sold it back to the dealer I won it from for $27,000 (they were insured against losing it at the golf show I won it at). Paid off debts, made down payment on first house.

"Irish eyes are smilin upon You!"

I prefer to think it was divine intervention, as my golf game back then was nowhere near what it is now, and I'm not that good now!

Posted on March 17, 2008 18:38

It's also Evacuation Day, w... (Below threshold)

8. Posted by Tim | March 17, 2008 7:56 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Tim:

It's also Evacuation Day, when the British turned French and left Boston for good after coming under the sights of General Washington's artillery (stolen from the British by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, of all people).

Posted on March 17, 2008 19:56

Actually, I've got a friend... (Below threshold)

9. Posted by Daniel | March 18, 2008 10:18 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Daniel:

Actually, I've got a friend from Ireland, and she had never even heard of the corned beef and cabbage thing until she got over here.

Posted on March 18, 2008 10:18

He is said to have driven t... (Below threshold)

10. Posted by Spurwing Plover | March 18, 2008 11:22 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Spurwing Plover:

He is said to have driven the snake out of ireland and they came here and called themselves politicians,buricrats and lawyers

Posted on March 18, 2008 11:22

Does anyone know WHY the or... (Below threshold)

11. Posted by J | March 20, 2008 2:30 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Does anyone know WHY the original color for St. Patrick's Day was blue? I understand the reasons to change it to green, but I can't seem to find anywhere that will tell me why it was blue in the first place...

Thanks!

Posted on March 20, 2008 14:30

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