Fun facts for St. Patrick’s Day:
1. St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish–he was British! At 16, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a sheep-herding slave, where he was harshly beaten.
2. Every year Chicago dies its river green with food coloring on St. Patrick’s Day.
3. The first St. Patrick’s Day parades were held by 18th century Irish soldiers who were helping the British fight in the Revolutionary War.
4. In 1903 St. Patrick’s Day was made a national holiday in Ireland.
5. The myth that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland is false–Ireland is an island surrounded by ice-cold water. No snakes could ever swim there, so there has never been snakes in Ireland!
Inter-lakes Middle/High School Library 