St Patricks Day Facts and Legends

As pointed out by Fox News here are some facts and Legends of St. Patricks day

1. The potato crop was traditionally planted in Ireland after March 17 (have any of you heard that the best day to start planting potatos would be st. Patricks day? For years I have heard this and many including my dad was guided by it)
2. Blue not green is the color originally associated with St Patrick. “St Patrick’s Blue” is used on Ireland's Presidential Standard or flag, while the Irish Guards sport a plume of St Patrick’s blue in their bearskins. The emphasis on green is thought to be linked to “wearing the Green”, a symbol from the 18th century on, of sympathy with Irish independence. (This is very odd is it not since many of us automatically associate St. Patricks day with green)
3. St Patrick is patron of fishermen in the Loire, where a legend associates him with a blackthorn bush. The saint is said to have slept beneath it, and when he awoke the next day, Christmas, the bush flowered, and was said to have continued to do so every Christmas until its destruction during the First World War. (This is new to me since I had never heard of it before)
4. A regiment of the Mexican army in the 1846 -8 War between Mexico and America was named after St Patrick. Members of the Batellón de San Patricio included Afro-Americans freshly liberated from the slave plantations of the South, and the soldiers were granted Mexican citizenship afterwards. (great way to escape from slavery but to do so through war must of been rough as well. This fact is new to me as well)
5. The first St Patrick’s Day parade took place in 1737 in Boston, followed in 1762 by New York. George Washington allowed his soldiers a holiday on March 17, 1780 as “an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence.” (St. Patricks day has long been an American point of pride and many places will once again celebrate with parades and parties)
6. Until the 1970’s, all pubs were shut in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day, and the sole venue selling drink the annual dog show. Lenten fasting – and the obligation to abstain from meat – were lifted on the day, which most families would begin with Mass. (This is the religious aspect of St. Patrics Day)
7. St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland and also in Monserrat "the Emerald Isle of the Carribean,” so called because it was settled in 1633 by Irish migrants from St Kitts. ( I recently saw a picture of the emerald Isle it is beautiful. I had never seen it before but truely a wonderful color green)
8. According to legend, on the day of Judgement, while Christ judges all other nations, St Patrick will be the judge of the Irish. (This legend is truely a folk lore)
9. Since 1962, tons of green dye are tipped on St Patrick’s Day into the Chicago river, although the quantity has reduced, for environmental reasons, from 100 to 40. (I have seen this on T.V. and it truely turns the water green. I think it is very pretty)

This was my point on St. Patricks day aided by Fox News and if you would like to read more heads or tails on different points then feel free to visit here.