About St. Patrick
St. Patrick is the patron saint of what country?
a. England
b. Canada
c. Ireland
d. Scotland
Ireland
He is the foremost patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigit of Kildare and Columba.
What was the first color associated with Saint Patrick's Day?
a. red
b. yellow
c. black
d. 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.
What color is traditionally worn on Saint Patrick's Day?
a. yellow
b. blue
c. green
d. red
Green
Saint Patrick's Day revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see.
According to some legends, how do Leprechauns earn their gold?
a. making shoes
b. growing potatoes
c. picking pockets
d. collecting teeth
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.
What would you use to make Irish coffee?
a. whiskey
b. scotch
c. guiness
d. brandy
Whiskey
Irish coffee is a cocktail consisting of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar, stirred, and topped with cream.
What was Saint Patrick's real name?
a. Maewyn
b. Darragh
c. Aengus
d. Seamus
Maewyn
His birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed his name to Patricius after becoming a priest.
Saint Patrick's Day commemorates the _____ of Saint Patrick.
a. death
b. marriage
c. coronation
d. birth
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.
How long is the world's shortest Saint Patrick's Day parade?
a. 98 yards
b. 98 feet
c. 26 yards
d. 26 feet
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.
According to Irish Lore, what did Saint Patrick drive out of Ireland?
a. rats
b. witches
c. demons
d. snakes
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.
How long is the lease on the Irish brewery that first invented Guinness?
a. 90 years
b. 9 years
c. 9,000 years
d. 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.
Where was St. Patrick born?
a. Ireland
b. Britain
c. Germany
d. Norway
Britain
St. Patrick wasn't Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 385 to an aristocratic Christian family.
What did St. Patrick use shamrocks for?
a. to illustrate the Holy Trinity
b. as medicine
c. to flavor his coffee
d. for good 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 city dyes its river green every St. Patrick's Day?
a. Amsterdam
b. Chicago
c. Budapest
d. 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!)
What type of Irish fairy has sometimes been described as a leprechaun on a drinking spree?
a. Hodrichaun
b. Clurichaun
c. Glimrichaun
d. Banshee
Clurichaun
The clurichaun is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his great love of drinking and a tendency to haunt wine cellars.
What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?
a. 1 in 1,000
b. 1 in 10,000
c. 1 in 100,000
d. 1 in 100
1 in 10,000
The chance of finding a single four-leaf clover is about one in 10,000.
According to tradition, St. Patrick was the first bishop of ______.
a. Drogheda
b. Blarney
c. Armagh
d. Kinsale
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.
Which pope canonized St. Patrick?
a. He was never officially canonized
b. Pope Gregory XVI
c. Pope Leo XII
d. Pope Pius X
He was never officially canonized
St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope, making his saintly status somewhat questionable.
How many pints of Guinness are consumed each year on Saint Patrick's Day?
a. 130 million
b. 13 million
c. 13 billion
d. 1.3 million
13 million
About 13 million pints of Guinness are consumed each year on March 17.
According to some legends, how much gold is in a leprechaun's stash at the end of the rainbow?
a. his weight in gold
b. one gold coin for every trick he has played
c. as much as he could steal
d. one gold coin for every year of his life
One gold coin for every year of his life
According to older Celtic myths, the queen of fairies gifts each a gold coin on their birthday. By this logic, you should hope to catch an old leprechaun!
What percent of Americans claim Irish ancestry?
a. about 10%
b. about 20%
c. about 30%
d. about 40%
About 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.
What happened to St. Patrick when he was 16?
a. He became a Bishop
b. He was enslaved
c. He was stoned to death
d. He almost died from the plague
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.
What is the scientific name for shamrock?
a. Trifolium Pratense
b. Trifolium Dubium
c. Trifolium Repens
d. All of the above
All of these
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 pretense, Medicago lupulina, Oxalis acetosella and various other species of Trifolium and Oxalis.
Where was the first St. Patrick's Day parade?
a. Dublin
b. Galway
c. New York City
d. 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.
After St. Patrick escaped his captors and returned to Britain, who was said to have visited him in a dream?
a. Dominicus
b. Triumphicus
c. Victoricus
d. Subjecticus
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.
When was St. Patrick's Day made an official Christian feast day?
a. 18th century
b. 17th century
c. 15th century
d. 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.