We hope you have a great day celebrating this historic Irish holiday!
St. Patrick's Day was brought over to Canada from Ireland via Irish immigrants back in the 1700's. The first celebration of St Patrick's Day was in "1759 by Irish soldiers serving with the British army following their conquest of part of New France, a French colony in North America" (Time and Date). Since then, it has become a fun addition to the overall Canadian cultural experience.
Here in Calgary we go all out for St. Patrick's Day! We may not turn our river green like they do in Chicago (seriously... check out this video from last year's St. Patrick's Day), the spirit of the season is alive and well. Looking for a place to throw back a Guinness and cheers your Irish friends and family? Check out any one of these Irish pubs:
- Fionn MacCool’s (255 Barclay Parade SW)
- James Joyce Pub (114 - 8 Ave SW)
- Jameson’s (3575 – 20 Ave NE)
- Limerick’s (7304 Macleod Trail S)
- Ceili's Irish Pub & Restaurant (513 - 8 Ave SW)
- Molly Malone’s (1153 Kensington Crescent NW)
- Tipperary’s (2002 – 16 Ave NW)
- Seanachie (5909 Signal Hill Centre SW)
- St. James Corner (1219 - 1 Street SW)
- Shillelagh’s (1851 Sirocco Drive SW)
- Joyce on 4th (506 – 24 Ave SW)
- Muldoon’s (4916 – 130 Ave SE)
- Kilkenny (3630 Brentwood Rd NW)
If pub food and big parties aren't your thing, head over to Crave Cupcakes! For St. Patrick's Day only they have green velvet cupcakes with Bailey's buttercream icing and shamrock sprinkles. Are you drooling yet? Show up first thing, these sweet treats sell our fast!
Here are some fun facts about St. Patrick's Day you may not have heard before:
- The shamrock image is a registered trademark by the Republic of Ireland.
- The clover is is an Irish Catholic symbol that represents the trinity.
- St. Patrick didn't actually wear green; his colour was blue!
- While St. Patrick is known for bringing Christianity to Ireland, he was actually British.
- Because St. Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday, it was a dry holiday! All the pubs were closed. It wasn't until 1970 that the kegs flowed again following it becoming a National holiday!
- An estimated $245 MILLION is spent on beer on St. Patrick's Day alone!
- According to Irish folklore, there are no female leprechauns.
- Leprechauns made all their money mending shoes; they earned their pot o' gold!
Have a fun, safe holiday, and don't forget to wear green!
(Image Via Canva)