St Patrick’s Day is on the horizon and as some parts of the world prepare to party, there is plenty to know about the celebration marking the death of Ireland’s patron saint.
Regarded as a celebration of colour, life and culture, there are a number of things that are virtually guaranteed to occur on March 17.
Here, are just a few of them...
Everything will turn green
The colour green is now synonymous with St Patrick’s Day celebrations but it truth it should be blue. Saint Patrick’s own colour was the latter, although green can be linked to Ireland in as early as the 17th century.
They’ll be plenty of Shamrocks
Irish legend dictates that Saint Patrick used the three-leaf plant as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when introducing Christianity to Ireland – a symbol which has been used ever since.
New York will celebrate
Every year, a giant street parade makes its way down Fifth Avenue as the city celebrates Irish culture and heritage. More than 33 million American’s reportedly have Irish ancestors – more than 10% of the population of the US.
So will places all over the world
Montreal in Canada has strong Irish connections and the Shamrock even features on the city flag. Celebrations also take place on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat where the day is a national holiday.
Britain parties
Closer to home, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool all have large parties, despite it not being a public holiday in England and Scotland. Meanwhile the Cheltenham Festival usually coincides with St Patrick’s Day, attracting huge numbers of Irish race goers, horse owners and jockeys.
Beer sales were up by 34% on average during the 2014 St Patrick’s Day celebrations and estimates from Guinness owner Diageo predict every pub will sell nearly 100 extra pints of beer compared to normal during the celebrations this year. Closely associated with the national Irish holiday, around 13 million pints of Guinness will be drunk around the world on St Patrick’s Day – now that’s a lot of beer!
Someone will dress as a leprechaun
Leprechauns are closely associated with St Patrick’s Day and legend states they will lead you to a hidden pot of gold if they are caught. Best get your running shoes on and get hunting then...