March 17th gives everyone - particularly of Irish origin - an excuse to get drunk because it is the celebration of Saint Patrick's Day. The annual cultural celebration of Ireland's foremost patron saint commemorates the arrival of Christianity into Ireland - although nowadays it is basically just an excuse to get drunk on gallons of Guinness. So popular is St Patrick's Day in the 21st Century that while on an average day 5.5million pints of Guinness are served worldwide - on March 17th, that number sores so that 13million pints of the Irish stout flow out of the pumps. Seen as a celebration of all things Irish, St Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland - as well as, bizarrely, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. Yet some commonly-held beliefs about St Patrick and the day on which he is commemorated are simply false. Millions of people worldwide will wear green on March 17th, they will celebrate St Patrick's "Irishness", and they will undoubtedly get soused - but these things are traditionally not associated with St Patrick's Day at all. So, here are 12 things everyone gets wrong about St Patrick's Day every March 17th...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
