In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we’ve pulled together some of the most interesting little known facts about the Holiday.

St. Patrick wasn’t Irish!
The truth is, he was born in England. In fact, St. Patrick didn’t make his way to Ireland until the age 16. From there, he started his journey of converting the Irish to Christianity and becoming an Irish patron saint.

The original color for St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t green.
Believe it or not, the original color of St. Patrick’s was blue, not today’s popular green. Additionally, the harp is the national symbol of Ireland, not the clover.

St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope.
While he is commonly referred to as a saint, St. Patrick was never canonized a pope, which makes his saintly status somewhat questionable.

There are more Irish in the USA than Ireland.
Well, sort of. An estimated 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. Some are pure-blood Irish, meaning they or their parents came from Ireland, but many more have mixed ancestry today.

St. Patrick’s was a dry holiday in Ireland until 1970.
Until 1970 St. Patrick’s Day was observed as a religious holiday, which meant all pubs were closed. This was overturned when the holiday was changed from a Religious to a National holiday.

Did we miss any other fun facts? Please share in the comments section below!