The 17 March marks the day when anyone who likes drinking wears green and claims some sort of Irish heritage. Starting off slowly, it soon became yet another reason for people to consume copious amounts of alcohol for no apparent reason other than something to do with St Patrick. So I decided to do you a favour and give you a few facts about ol’ Saint Paddy to arm you with cutting edge charisma this evening. Ready?

Let’s focus on the man himself: Who is this St. Patrick

•  Here’s one to crush you: St. Patrick was not Irish, he was from Wales. Shock! Horror! He made his mark by introducing Christianity to Ireland in the year 432.
• As legend has it, St Paddy drove all the snakes out of Ireland – and this is one you probably know: Scientists agreed that Ireland has always been too cold to allow reptiles to thrive and thus there were never even any there. And, the icy seas that surround the green isle have deterred any slithering invaders.
• Saint Patrick wasn’t originally called Patrick. His birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed his name to Patricius after becoming a priest. Much easier to say.
• Ireland isn’t the only country he is the saint of: He is the patron saint of Nigeria, Montserrat and Boston, engineers and the Archdiocese of New York. Nigeria is the only one to not celebrate the day formally.

What’s up with the shamrock?

• The shamrock was originally used as a teaching tool by the saint. The three-leaved plant was used to explain the Holy Trinity to the then pagan Irish (he should have left them that way).
• As per tradition, the Irish leader hands a crystal bowl full of shamrock to the US President every year. Grown in Kerry, the plant is immediately destroyed by the Secret Service after the exchange. Dicks.

All about that green

• In the beginning, blue was the colour of St. Patrick. In fact, green was considered unlucky (if you have grown up in the Irish household, you will know that owning a green car or having a green kitchen will only bring bad luck). The colour changed when Ireland got its independence.
• Now, every year, people who celebrate the day turn everything green – from draught beer to the Chicago river and even the Sydney Opera House.

Leprechaun fantasies

There are no female leprechauns. Pretty bleak when you consider that on Monday, Pornhub saw a 1 000% increase in searches with “leprechaun erotica”. But there’s more: The number of people searching for the word Irish on the adult film site increased by 600 per cent, while searches for St Patrick’s Day-theme porn increased by 6,000 per cent.

Now you need a drink, right?

After that brain workout you’re probably really thirsty. So get this: Tonight, Caprice is doing something really special to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. They’re having a 2-for-1 Jameson mojito drink special and damn, does that not sound thirst quenching. And you know, Jameson might as well be the patron saint of Irish whiskey.

[source: mentalfloss&metro&independent]