Five Facts you might not know about St Patrick’s Day

St Patrick’s Day is here!

That day has rolled around again, Chicago has dyed the Kelly river bright green (only temporarily of course!) and people have been wearing some really big leprechaun hats. There are some facts flying around that you may not know about one of the most widely celebrated saints days.

1) The first St Patrick’s Day parade took place in New York in 1766.

2) Even though he is the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick was actually born in Wales!

3) 33.3 million U.S. residents claimed Irish ancestry in the 2013 census. The population of Ireland is only 4.6 million! Also, Guiness reckon that 1 in ever 161 Americans is named Patrick, which is almost 2 million people! That is a lot of Patricks.

4) There are around 60 churches and cathedrals in Ireland named after St Patrick including St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

5) The shamrock is thought to have been the tool with which St Patrick taught the pagans about the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

At Philip James we have personal ties to this festival; both our CEO and Non-Executive director, Philip Nolan and Dermot McKenna are Irish and many of our staff are Irish or have Irish heritage. So we would like to wish everyone a great St Patrick’s Day!

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