St. Patrick's Day Fast Facts: Beyond the Blarney

National Geographic News ^ | March 15, 2005 | Sean Markey

[FeliciaCat]

Millions of revelers will celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. A portion of them will undoubtedly find their way to an Irish pub, where they'll raise a pint of stout—not a glass of green beer, God willing—and wish their companions "Slainté!" The Irish word, pronounced SLAN-cha, means "health."

There may be scientific truth to the toast. At a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, two years ago, researchers reported that Guinness may be as effective as daily aspirin in reducing the blood clots that cause heart attacks. (The benefit derives from antioxidants, which the researchers said reduce cholesterol deposits on arterial walls. The compounds are found in dark Irish stouts but not their paler cousins.)

In the spirit of the holiday, National Geographic News rustled up other facts related to St. Patrick's Day festivities. Take heart—we skipped the blarney.

• St. Patrick's Day marks the Roman Catholic feast day for Ireland's patron saint, who died in the 5th century. St. Patrick (Patricius in Latin) was not born in Ireland, but in Britain.

• Irish brigands kidnapped St. Patrick at 16 and brought him to Ireland. He was sold as a slave in the county of Antrim and served in bondage for six years until he escaped to Gaul, in present-day France. He later returned to his parents home in Britain, where he had a vision that he would preach to the Irish. After 14 years of study, Patrick returned to Ireland, where he built churches and spread the Christian faith for some 30 years.

• Many myths surround St. Patrick. One of the best known—and most inaccurate—is that Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland into the Irish Sea, where the serpents drowned. (Some still say that is why the sea is so rough.)

But snakes have never been native to the Emerald Isle. The serpents were likely a metaphor for druidic religions, which steadily disappeared from Ireland in the centuries after St. Patrick planted the seeds of Christianity on the island.

• Colonial New York City hosted the first official St. Patrick's Day parade in 1762, when Irish immigrants in the British colonial army marched down city streets. In subsequent years Irish fraternal organizations also held processions to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The various groups merged sometime around 1850 to form a single, grand parade.

• Today New York's St. Patrick's Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in the world. This year nearly three million spectators are expected to watch the spectacle and some 150,000 participants plan to march.

• Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade is little more than 75 years old. This year festival organizers will launch 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of fireworks to cap their celebration, which is expected to draw 400,000 spectators.

• By law, pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick's Day, a national religious holiday, as recently as the 1970s.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 34 million United States residents claim Irish ancestry, or nearly ten times the entire population of Ireland today, which stands at 3.9 million. Among U.S. ethnic groups, the number of Irish-Americans in the U.S. is second only to the number of German-Americans.

• Since 1820, 4.8 million Irish have legally immigrated to the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency reports that only four countries—Germany, Italy, Mexico, and the United Kingdom—have sent more native-born residents to become naturalized U.S. citizens.

• Chicago is famous for dyeing the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. The tradition began in 1962, when a pipe fitters union—with the permission of the mayor—poured a hundred pounds (45 kilograms) of green vegetable dye into the river. (On the job, the workers often use colored dyes to track illegal sewage dumping.) Today only 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of dye are used, enough to turn the river green for several hours.

According to the Friends of the Chicago River, a local environmental group, more people are likely to view the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day than on any other day.

• Guinness stout, first brewed by Arthur Guinness in Dublin, Ireland, in 1759, has become synonymous with Ireland and Irish bars. According to the company's Web site, 1,883,200,000 (that's 1.9 billion) pints of Guinness are consumed around the world every year.

• Robert Louis Stevenson, the 19th-century Scottish author of Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and other novels, brought a store of Guinness with him during a trip to Samoa in the South Pacific, according to the Guinness Web site.

• Ireland is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) long and 200 miles (320 kilometers) wide. Those facts, along with other features, led Swedish geographer Ulf Erlingsson to recently conclude that the Atlantic Ocean island is the same one identified by ancient Greek philosopher Plato as Atlantis in his famous dialogues Timaeus and Critias.

[Betis70]

I'm reading a very clever book about an English/Irish guy's trips through Ireland. He says you can tell the tourists because they don't pre-order their stout in time for it to be ready once they finish their first one. I guess there is a whole ritual to pouring it and it usually take a while.

"McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland"

Fun read so far.

[timydnuc]

I'm glad you brought that up. You are correct indeed! I learned that real quick in Dublin. In the countryside it is anticipated so no forethought is necessary. A real Irishman will pay for 2, or 3, or 4, or whatever at the time of his first (this to assure that 1) he gets his Guinness perfectly drawn and 2) that the bartender knows he won't stiff him for the price of the drinks). They do this by both the money on the bar and an indication with fingers. For instance, they will lay the correct amount of money on the bar and place the proper number of fingers down next to it. The bartender always remembers (the Irish bartenders are the best in the world. They are pure efficiency and entertainment). Let's say you order 2 in the above fashion and decide you'd like a third. You order the 3rd upon the delivery of your second.

[TWohlford]

You'll note that the Irish Flag has an orange stripe on one side, a green on the other, and white between them.

The green is for the Catholic side, the orange for the Protestants, and the white for the truce that finally was struck.

[Betis70]

LOL that is funny. I'll have to visit someday.

The bartenders who work in the tapas bars in Seville are pretty good too, but they use chalk on the bar to keep track of your orders.

[CollegeRepublican]

Yes, you always want the slow pour for stouts.

"It should be poured slowly; two-thirds are poured, and left to settle, before the rest is added. Recent advertising campaigns state that "it takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint" of Guinness. While this method of pouring (slow) is done in Ireland, many American bars seem to ignore the requisite 'slow pour'.

In addition to the slow pour, many people believe that it is a tradition in Ireland for the bar person to etch a shamrock in the head. This is done relatively infrequently though there are many barmen who do so. Another myth is that Guinness is brewed using water from the River Liffey, which flows through Dublin close to St James's Gate; it actually comes from a spring in the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness

[ex-snook]

Seems that Pat went into a Dublin Pub and ordered three beers. The bartender set them up and Pat downed them and ordered three more. The bartender said they would be better if they were served one at a time.

Pat explained that he had three brothers and before they separated each promised to always have a drink for each other and one had to go to Australia and the other to America. The bartender understood so he served him three more.

Just about this time of year, Pat came in an ordered only two. The bartender was puzzled and he asked Pat if there was a problem with one of his brothers.

Pat said No but I am giving up beer for lent.

[timydnuc]

Shawn and Patty had been life long friends up to the ripe old age of 89. They were both frail men by then and poor Patty was on his death bed with his true friend and life long companion at his side.

As poor Patty was gaspin his last breaths he begged of Shawn, "Shawn would ya do anything for me"? Shawn replied, "You are the best freind a man could have had all these years, I will do anything you ask". Patty began his last requests, "Would ya see to it that my family is taken care of"? Shawn replied, "Your family will never want for love or money as long as I draw breath"! Patty went on, "Will ya care for my land and not let the barrons take it"? Shawn screamed, "They'll take it only over me cold dead body"! One last thing that Patty wanted as he held up a bottle of whiskey in a shaking right hand, "I've been savin' this bottle of Irish whiskey for you to pour over me grave, could you do that for my Shawn"? Shawn took the bottle with reverence, he embraced it to his breast and thought for a minute. Then Shawn said to Patty, "You know I love you more than me own brother don't you Patty". Patty said "yes". Shawn grabbed Patty's hand and said, "You know I'd move heaven and earth for ya, don't ya Patty"? Patty said, "yes". Cluthing the bottle in his left hand and Patty's hand in his right Shawn asked, "Would ya mind terribly, if I passed this through me kidney first"?

I hate to agree with Shawn, but it is a terrible waste of good Irish Whiskey.

[timydnuc]

I always wanted to go to Seville and get a haircut, just to say, "I met the Barber of Seville".

Just a joke, of course. I was stationed in Europe for a year after Vietnam and I had a blast. I saw things that I will likely not see in the rest of my life. I would love to go back to Ireland and Britain. Italy was another of my favorites. France sucked, as did most of the rest of the "continent". I was stationed in Germany for that year and I had German friends and it was nice....then. I loved the Ballerican Islands of Spain and the limited parts of "continental" Spain that I saw.

I would love to go back to Ireland, it held a place in my heart up to and including now.

[elhombrelibre]

A long running Guinness advertisement was "Guinness! It's good for your health." Now science proves it.

[elhombrelibre]

So me being strictly neutral
I punched everyone in sight
oh it tis the biggest mix up
that you have ever seen
for me mother she was orange
and me father he was green

[elhombrelibre]

It takes a while to pour one.

[CitizenM]

A POEM TO ME MUDDER

When me prayers were poorly said
Who tucked me in my widdle bed
And spanked me till my "arse" was red
Me Mudder.

Who took me from my cozy cot
And put me on the ice cold pot
And made me pee if I could not
Me Mudder

And when the morning light would come
And in my crib I’d dribble some
Who wiped my tiny widdle bum
Me Mudder.

And who me hair would neatly part
And hug me gently to her heart
And sometimes squeeze me till I fart
Me Mudder

Who looked at me with eyebrows knit
And nearly had a king sized fit
When in me Sunday pants I $hit
Me Mudder

And when at night the bed did squeak
Me raised me head to have a peek
Who yelled at me to go to sleep
Me Fodder

[FeliciaCat]

very cute!

[FeliciaCat]

Good story. I have been to England many times - never Ireland. Would love to go.

[Betis70]

BTTT

[Churchillspirit]

Loved St.Patrick's Day at school.

A bunch of shamrock, an apple and a walk in the afternoon.

[Churchillspirit]

A German friend of mine married into a large Irish family. Every St.Patrick's Day they would have a huge party with all the Irish trimmings.

He wore a tee shirt with the slogan "I'm not Irish but kiss me anyway"

Had a whale of a time!

[missyme]

In American cities with a large Irish population, St. Patrick's Day is a
very big deal. Big cities and small towns alike celebrate with parades,
"wearing of the green," music and songs, and of course, Irish food and
drink. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green.

Saint Patrick is believed to have been born in the late fourth century
and is most known for driving the snakes from Ireland. It is true there
are no snakes in Ireland, but there probably never have been! The island
was separated from the rest of the continent at the end of the Ice Age.
As in many old pagan religions, serpent symbols were common and often
worshipped. Driving the snakes from Ireland was probably symbolic of
putting an end to that pagan practice. While not the first to bring
Christianity to Ireland, it is Patrick who is said to have encountered
the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites.

Saint Patrick's Day has come to be associated with everything Irish:
anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those
who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional
day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers.

This is Rex Barker C.S. (Counting Shamrocks) reminded that there is a pot
of gold at the end of every rainbow…I just have to find it before that
leprechaun gets his hands on it!