Shamrock 'N' Roll
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of what country?
A) England
B) Scotland
C) Ireland
Ireland
He is the foremost patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigit of Kildare and Columba.
What color is traditionally worn on Saint Patrick's Day?
A) Blue
B) Green
C) Yellow
Green
Saint Patrick's Day revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see.
What percent of Americans claim Irish ancestry?
A) 20%
B) 40%
C) 10%
10%
About 33 million Americans -- 10.5% of the total population -- reported Irish ancestry in the 2013 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Where was Saint Patrick born?
A) Britain
B) Germany
C) Ireland
Britain
St. Patrick wasn't Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 385 to an aristocratic Christian family.
After Saint Patrick escaped his captors and returned to Britain, who visited him in a dream?
A) Dominicus
B) Victoricus
C) Triumphicus
Victoricus
In the Confessio, St. Patrick writes: "I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea--and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us."
Saint Patrick's Day commemorates the ______ of Saint Patrick.
A) Death
B) Birth
C) Coronation
Death
On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, where he had built his first church.
What was Saint Patrick's real name?
A) Maewyn
B) Darragh
C) Seamus
Maewyn
His birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed his name to Patricius after becoming a priest.
What type of Irish fairy has sometimes been described as a leprechaun that haunts wine cellars?
A) Hodrichaun
B) Clurichaun
C) Glimrichaun
Clurichaun
The clurichaun is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his tendency to haunt wine cellars.
What happened to Saint Patrick when he was 16 years old?
A) He almost died
B) He became a bishop
C) He was enslaved
He was enslaved
At the age of 16, he was captured and enslaved by Irish marauders and taken as a slave to Ireland. He lived there for six years before escaping and returning to his family.
When was Saint Patrick's Day made an official Christian feast day?
A) 17th century
B) 18th century
C) 16th century
17th century
Saint Patrick's Day was officially recognized in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church.
According to Irish Lore, what did Saint Patrick drive out of Ireland?
A) Rats
B) Snakes
C) Witches
Snakes
The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that they had all been banished by Patrick who chased them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast. However, most biologists maintain there were never any snakes in Ireland.
What did Saint Patrick use shamrocks for?
A) To illustrate the holy trinity
B) As medicine
C) For luck
To illustrate the holy trinity
Many claim the shamrock represents faith, hope, and love, or any number of other things but it was actually used by Patrick to teach the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
What is the scientific name for a shamrock?
A) Trifolium Repens
B) Trifolium Dubium
C) Trifolium Pratense
All of the above
There is still not a consensus over the precise botanical species of clover that is the "true" shamrock, but Trifolium dubium (Lesser clover) is considered to be the shamrock by roughly half of Irish people, and Trifolium repens (White clover) by another third, with the remaining fifth split between Trifolium pratense, Medicago lupulina, Oxalis acetosella and various other species of Trifolium and Oxalis.
Which Pope canonized Saint Patrick?
A) Pop Gregory XVI
B) Pope Pius X
C) He was never officially canonized
He was never officially canonized
St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope, making his saintly status somewhat questionable.
When is Saint Patrick's Day celebrated?
A) March 16th
B) March 19th
C) March 17th
March 17th
It is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17.
How do Leprechauns earn their gold?
A) Making shoes
B) Collecting teeth
C) Picking pockets
Making shoes
According to legend, they spend all their time making and mending shoes, then stashing all their earnings in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
How long is the world's shortest Saint Patrick's Day parade?
A) 26 feet
B) 98 yards
C) 26 yards
26 yards
From 1999 to 2007, the Irish village of Dripsey proudly touted that it hosted the world's shortest Saint Patrick's Day parade. The route ran for 26 yards between two pubs.
How long is the lease on the Irish brewery that first invented Guinness?
A) 9,000 Years
B) 90 Years
C) 900 Years
9,000 Years
In 1759, Arthur Guinness left home and headed to Dublin where he signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum on a dilapidated brewery at St. James' Gate.
What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?
A) 1 in 1,000,000
B) 1 in 10,000
C) 1 in 100
1 in 10,000
The chance of finding a single four-leaf clover is about one in 10,000, but don't tell that to Glen Alpine resident Suzi Mekhitarian who plucked 21 four-leaf clovers from her front yard in 2014.
What would happen if you did not wear green on Saint Patrick's Day?
A) You get pinched
B) You get arrested
C) You pay a fine
You get pinched
Leprechauns are actually one reason you're supposed to wear green on St. Patrick's Day—or risk getting pinched! The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see.
What city dyes its river green every Saint Patrick's Day?
A) Chicago
B) Amsterdam
C) Manchester
Chicago
Dyeing the Chicago River green has been a St. Patrick's Day tradition since 1962. (It takes 40 tons of dye to get the river to a suitably festive shade!)
According to tradition, Saint Patrick was the first bishop of ___________.
A) Kinsale
B) Armagh
C) Blarney
Armagh
Early medieval tradition credits him with being the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. He is regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland and credited with converting a society that practiced a form of Celtic polytheism.
What was the first color associated with Saint Patrick's Day?
A) Red
B) Yellow
C) Blue
Blue
Saint Patrick's color was blue, not green, according to historians. The specific hue was a light shade called St. Patrick's blue which can still be seen on ancient Irish flags.
Where was the first Saint Patrick's Day parade?
A) New York City
B) Dublin
C) Belfast
New York City
The first recorded St. Patrick's Day parade was held not in Ireland but in the United States in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.
This dish is traditionally eaten on Saint Patrick's Day.
A) Corned beef and cabbage
B) Irish stew
C) Bangers and mash
Corned beef and cabbage
The meal that became a St. Patrick’s Day staple across the country—corned beef and cabbage—was actually an American innovation. While ham and cabbage were eaten in Ireland, corned beef offered a cheaper substitute for impoverished immigrants. Irish Americans living in the slums of lower Manhattan in the late 19th century and early 20th purchased leftover corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. The Irish would boil the beef three times—the last time with cabbage—to remove some of the brine.