St.
Patrick’s Day Myths!
One
of the most publicly celebrated holidays is this Monday, but did you know there
are a lot of myths surrounding St. Patrick’s Day? Yes, it is true and today I am going to be
your fact checker!
Is
St. Patrick the patron saint of the beer industry? Maybe. Big
Insight Reporting says Americans spend $4.5 billion St. Patrick's Day AND 1% or
$45 million spent on beer alone – all on one day, March 17th. I would think the beer people most likely
think Patrick truly was a saint!
St.
Patrick was Irish, right? No, he was born
in southwest Britain and was kidnapped by priests and forced to work in Ireland
for several years.
How
about that thing about St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland? A metaphor at best. Ireland is an island and snakes never
migrated there.
Of
course the festivities came from Ireland because the Irish are party animals,
right? Actually not. Parties, parades and celebrations first
sprang up in the US around the time of the Revolutionary War – by Irish-American
immigrants wanting to remember their homeland and to honor their patron
saint.
The
tradition of wearing the color green came from Ireland, correct? No, another American invention. Some Irish folklore attached unlucky
connotations to the color green, and St. Patrick was originally associated with
the color blue.
OK,
hopefully this one goes without saying: Kissing an Irish person won't bring you
good luck? Regardless of what that guy at
the pub told you last year! Blame the
Blarney Stone legend for the line, "Kiss me! I'm Irish."
And
finally, what about that irritating pinching tradition? Well, this one did come from Ireland. Many Irish people believed that wearing green
would make you invisible to leprechauns.
A good thing because leprechauns would pinch you if they got the chance.
So, the bigger question may be, do you
believe in leprechauns?
Can
you believe it, much of what we believed about the Irish actually was
originated in America. Go figure! Enjoy the holiday this Monday and that is the bottom of our news for Friday, March 14, 2014! ###
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