Mad about St. Patrick's Day - Some interesting and little known facts about St. Patrick’s Day

Mad about St. Patrick's Day 251st New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade When: March 16th World's largest St. Patrick's Day Parade is the Where: Manhattan, NY The first recorded St. Patrick's Day parade There are more than was held not in Ireland but in New York City in 1762 200,000 participants 2 million onlookers The shamrock (three-leafed clovers) Who is St. Patrick ? was chosen Ireland's national emblem because of the legend that St. Patrick had used it to ittustrate the doctrine of Saint Patrick was a mis- sionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the the Trinity. The Trinity is the idea that God is really three-in-one: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. "Apostle of Ireland" he is the primary patron saint of the island How can 1 know I'm getting a "Real" Four-leaf Clover? Genuine four-leaf clovers come from the White Clover plant, trifolium repens, considered to be the Original Shamrock. Real Fake Fake Fake Trifolium repens Oxalis Deppei Marsilea Marsilea Quadrifolia Polycarpa What do the leaves symbolize? Did you know that? Originally, the colour associated with Faith - Saint Patrick - Hope was blue Love - Luck! Sources: http://www.st-patricks-day.com/st_potricks_day_porade_new_york_city html http://www.fourleafclover.com/vshop/facts_about_4-leaf_clovers http://english-zone.com/holidays/st-patsymbols.html http://enwkipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick http://english-zone.com/holidays/st-patsymbols.htmi SCIENCE westchester.madscience.org