Whitening Your Teeth After St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

St. Patrick’s Day is very much an American celebration, as well as being celebrated all round the world. But did you ever wonder how much of our traditions are really Irish, and how many were made in America? Here are 10 facts regarding St. Patrick’s Day that you might not have known.

1. St. Patrick was not Irish. He was Italian, and likely born in England, Scotland, or Wales, which were controlled by the Roman Empire in 385 CE when he was born. His given name was Maewyn Succat.
2. Maewyn’s first trip to Ireland was not by choice. He was stolen from his family and brought to Gaelic Ireland to work as a slave. After six years, he escaped and dedicated his life to the Church. Thirty years later, he returned to Ireland to convert Irish pagans to Catholicism. This is when he took the name Patrick, which is Latin for “father figure.”
3. The shamrock was used by St. Patrick as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity. Eventually, the shamrock became the iconic symbol for Ireland. In the 18th century, people began wearing shamrocks on the feast of St. Patrick. The date March 17 was chosen because that’s (probably) the day St. Patrick died.
4. Irish soldiers, fighting on the British side in the Revolutionary War, held the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1762 to remind them of their home. Irish immigrants in the United States have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day ever since. To this day, the parade remains mainly an American tradition.
5. The color associated with St. Patrick in his time was light blue. Eventually, green became the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day, and Ireland in general, for a few reasons. First, the iconic shamrock is green. Also, Ireland is called the Emerald Isle because of its lush, verdant fields. Finally, traditional Irish folklore says that people are invisible to leprechauns if you’re wearing green, so they won’t pinch you. That’s why you’re fair game to be pinched on St. Patrick’s Day if you’re not wearing green.
6. The legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is not true. Ireland has never been home to snakes because of the cold of the ice age and its island geography. The snakes were a metaphor for the pagan beliefs that Patrick attempted to drive out.
7. Corned beef is not an Irish food. Irish immigrants who lived on the Lower East Side of New York started the tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day.
8. Green beer is also an American tradition. Drinking a pint of Guinness, though, is popular worldwide, including in Ireland where it’s made.
9. The shortened name for St. Patrick’s Day is not St. Patty’s Day, as Patty is a shortened version of the name Patricia. The correct nickname is St. Paddy’s Day.
10. In 1962, the City of Chicago dyed a portion of the Chicago River green on St. Patrick’s Day, and has done so ever since.