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.

Little Bits

Wow.  I did not expect to see the martyrdom of Saint Swithin on Vikings Thursday night.  I had seen the Bishop admonish Athelstan in the preview, but hadn't realized his name until the Vikings started shooting arrows into him.  - And I only know about Saint Swithin from reading about the Early Church in England, and about the history of the Viking invasions in England. - It was almost like the jolt of reaction I had to hearing Donel Logue's voice on Law And Order: SVU on Wednesday night...
  Spent last night with Boo, and began the first of four books by Robin Hobb in The Rain Wild Chronicles, which is a continuation of the stories from The Liveship Traders. This woman is a fantastic writer!  Her ideas, and the complex weaving of the stories are totally enthralling. If you ever want to lose yourself in another world or different time, read a Robin Hobb book!
  The weather forecast called for a sunny morning, and a combination of rain and/or snow this afternoon.  The wind started blowing in from the northwest last night, and we have a cloudy grey sky.  It's 45 degrees out, but the wind is constantly blowing, so the wind chill is 28 at the moment.  My kits ran around outside for an hour after I returned home this morning, and are both curled up in my bed at the moment.
   As my husband was Irish, I want to wish you a wonderful weekend of celebrating St. Patrick's Day - but please do so carefully.  Have a designated driver.  Don't drink and drive.  Don't get high and drive.  Be safe, both for yourself and everyone else.  Thanks.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trees lining the road in Northern Ireland