For many of us, St. Patrick’s Day is a time to wear green to the office, eat some corned beef and cabbage and attend a parade. It’s also a holiday steeped in history. As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2021, here’s a few facts you may not know about the global holiday.
For starters, you might be surprised to learn that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. Most historians believe he was actually born in Britain near the end of the 4th century, brought to Northern Ireland as a hostage around age 16, escaped back to Britain, only to return to Ireland as a Christian missionary a few years later.
Another little known fact… Leprechauns. Those red-headed, green-suited sprites are a confusing lot. Likely originating from a Celtic belief in fairies, Leprechauns can decide to either use their magical powers for good (think Lucky of sugared cereal fame) or evil (see any of the eight, yes there are eight, Leprechaun horror films).
Finally, did you know that the estimated odds of finding a four-leaf clover on your first try is about 10,000 to 1. Of course, if you’re willing to, ironically, search 13 square feet of clover the odds flip in your favor, and you’re statistically likely to locate one of those lucky prizes.
Here’s a final fun fact. At least this year, because of that annoying global pandemic, we’re unlikely to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day together.
So, attach a photo of you, your family or your pets in your finest green outfits and/or let us know how you plan to celebrate the holiday. Add them directly to comments for all your JMP colleagues to enjoy!
To get us started, here is a picture of me in my son’s green, shamrock-speckled fedora.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
What an awesome pic! Greg is one in a million. Or at least 1 in 10,000.
Don't know if I have any Irish genes, but with red hair, I like to think I do. Made Irish soda bread, but it didn't last to today!
