St. Patrick's Day By Numbers

This is taken from a CNN release; parts not in quotes are my own comments.....
   "When you suit up in green and head to the St. Patrick's Day parade or your favorite Irish bar to celebrate, dropping these facts and figures about the holiday's origins will impress your fellow revelers!"  -  Originally, the color blue was used to celebrate Saint Patrick.

" 5 - St. Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday to honor the the man who, in the fifth century," did the most to introduce and spread Christianity across Ireland.  There were two other Christian 'missionaries' in Ireland prior to Patrick's arrival.

" 1762 - The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in New York on 17 March 1762.

149 million - Number of people in the United States who plan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in 2018.

83 - Percentage of those celebrating who plan to wear green.

27  - Percentage of Americans who plan to go to a bar or restaurant to celebrate.

$5.9 billion - Expected St. Patrick's Day spending in 2018.

3,400 - Species of snakes in the world.  According to legend, St. Patrick drove all of the snakes from Ireland. "  In truth, there were never any snakes living on the land that became Ireland.

" 5 - Approximate number of hours the Chicago River remains emerald green after being dyed for the city's St. Patrick's Day parade.

17-5641 - The Pantone number for the color emerald green, which was the 'Pantone Color of the Year' for 2013.

32.3 million - People in the United States with Irish ancestry, as of 2016.

1 in 10,000 - Your chances of finding a four-leaf clover.

6 - Ireland's global rank in beer consumption per capita in 2016, with 98.2 liters.

21 - The United States' rank in beer consumption per capita in 2016, with 74.8 liters.

170 - Rank in popularity in the United States of the baby name of Patrick in 2016.

460 - Calories in a 12-ounce (small) McDonald's limited-edition green Shamrock Shake.  The large size contains 800.  "


My husband's male ancestors came from Ireland.  The surname is Devine, which was from the Irish Gaelic  Ó Daimhín.  The root of this name is believed to be "damh," which supposedly means an "ox" or a "stag."  The name Devine is chiefly found today in the Irish counties of Tyrone and Fermanagh.  Up to the fifteenth century, the chief of the sept was Lord of Tirkennedy in County Fermanagh.