No need to turn green with envy of your Irish friends -- everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Come Thursday, show off your knowledge with these interesting facts:
1 According to legend, St. Patrick drove the snakes out from Ireland and into the sea. In reality, there were never any snakes in Ireland.
2 St. Patrick was actually born in Great Britain, not Ireland. As a teenager, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland by Irish raiders. He was enslaved as a shepherd for six years before escaping back to Britain.
3 When he returned to Britain, Patrick had a religious dream that told him to go back to Ireland to teach the Christian faith. He completed 15 years of religious training, working as a Catholic missionary and later as a bishop.
4 The original St. Patrick's Day honored the day of his death, March 17, in the fifth century. It was a religious holiday and later a feast day in Ireland because he brought Christianity to the country.
5St. Patrick's birth name was Maewyn Succat. His name was changed to Patricius, or Patrick, by the Catholic church.
6 Celts revered the shamrock because of its three leaves, a sacred number in Celtic mythology. They believed shamrocks had magical powers. St. Patrick used some of the pagan beliefs to teach them about Christianity. In this case, the shamrock represented the Holy Trinity.
