Seeing green: festivities abound for St. Patrick's Day – plus five quirky facts

Communities around the world will be seeing green today (March 17) as St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, spilling over from the weekend, unfold.

The special day isn’t just a celebration of the patron saint – it’s also a demonstration of the pride of being Irish and a source of joy that helps to kick off the spring season.

At Tourism Ireland, it’s also an opportunity to showcase “the very best of Ireland to the world,” said Alice Mansergh, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, in a statement.

“This is a time of year that attracts an estimated 100,000 overseas visitors to the island,” Mansergh said. “Promotion of all we offer visitors at this time of year leads to the highest level of online research for ‘holidays to Ireland’ annually, so the spotlight for Ireland created during St Patrick’s Week tees up spring and summer travel ahead.”

A new video wishes the world a Happy St Patrick’s Day using a cover of Breathless by The Corrs, performed by Irish band Lemoncello.

Watch it here. The video includes stunning footage of Ireland and captures the excitement of festivities happening around the island on March 17.

Canada celebrates Irish Heritage Month

Some 70 million people claim links to Ireland, says Tourism Ireland, and every St. Patrick’s Day, Irish music, dance and pints of frothy Guinness are synonymous with events around the world.

In Canada, St. Patrick’s Day is just one day that makes up Irish Heritage Month, which celebrates the many ways Irish Canadians have helped shape Canada, throughout March.

Irish is the fourth largest ethnic group in Canada, with more than 4.6 million claiming Irish heritage.

In a dark time in Irish history, 18,000 Irish landed in Toronto, following the famine in 1947 – at a time when the city’s population was just 20,000.

Recognizing how Irish culture has influenced Canadian society, “Irish Heritage Month” was officially designated by the Government of Canada in 2022.

Shades of green 

Tourism Ireland’s Canada office has many activations at play, including its Irish Person of the Year event, held earlier this month. It will be turning iconic sites, from the CN Tower to Niagara Falls, a shade of green on St. Patrick’s Day,

A partnership with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has also been secured. 

As some may (or may not) know, the Toronto Maple Leafs, from 1919 to 1927, were once known as the Toronto St. Patrick's.

READ MORE: On Location: From urban farms to viking victories – a bounty of experiences in Ireland

The tourism board will be celebrating this piece of hockey history on St. Patrick’s Day, today, with a special campaign with the Maple Leafs when the team faces off against the Calgary Flames.

For the game, Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena will be covered in Ireland’s green branding, and one lucky attendee will go home with a free trip to Ireland.

Carlton, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bear mascot, will also be known as “Cloverton” for one night only, said Sandra Moffatt, director for Canada at Tourism Ireland, speaking to PAX at The Ireland Funds’ annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon earlier this month on March 7.

“We’ll be teaching him how to do an Irish dance,” Moffatt shared, adding that a crew of dancers and musicians will also be present at the game.

Across the pond, cities and towns in Ireland – from Cork to Limerick to Waterford to Kilkenny to Dublin – will mark St. Patrick’s Day with lively festivals and parades.

Click here for a glimpse of just some of the activities that are taking place (and have taken place) around the Emerald Isle.

Positive tourism numbers

In 2024, overseas visitor spend in Ireland grew by more than 10 per cent on 2023, bringing an estimated €7 billion to the island of Ireland, says Tourism Ireland.

Flights between Canada with the Emerald Isle also remains strong. Ireland now has six gateways from Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and St. John’s, Newfoundland.

“The numbers are looking really positive,” said Moffatt. “The reports from our tour operators say business is up over last year.”

Stats, sentiment and forecasts for Ireland have also “very positive from partners” for the year ahead, boosted by major events, like The Open Championship in Royal Portrush taking place this summer, Moffatt added.

5 quirky facts about St. Patrick’s Day

While St. Patrick’s Day may be an opportunity to wear green, or indulge in a swig of green-coloured beer at a local pub, the day is steeped in a fascinating history (and mystery).

Here are five interesting (and unexpected) facts behind the folklore surrounding St. Patrick.

1. Patrick wasn’t Irish

Patrick is thought to have originally come from either Wales or Scotland, where he was abducted at the age of 16 and brought to what is now Northern Ireland as a slave. He was sent to Slemish Mountain in County Antrim – still a popular pilgrimage spot to this day – to herd sheep. 

But after his escape, he had a vision which prompted him to return to Ireland to spread the word of Christianity. Patrick remained in Ireland for the rest of his life, preaching, baptizing, and founding schools, churches and monasteries before his death in County Down, on 17 March, AD 461.

2. Patrick isn‘t an official saint

The man behind Ireland’s national day is technically not a saint. Surprisingly, Patrick was never officially canonised as a saint by the Catholic Church. However, the lack of official sainthood is simply because there was no formal canonisation process in the 400s. 

In Patrick’s time saints were declared by popular acclamation. Calling him “St Patrick” is likely to have caught on over time because of his talents, gifts and holiness.

3. The first St Patrick’s Day parade

It’s actually the big centres of Irish immigration in Boston (1737) and New York (1762) that have the longest laid claims to holding the first St Patrick’s Day parade, though recent research has suggested the U.S. city of St Augustine in Florida had one in 1601. 

This is long before they started in Ireland itself – the first parade in the country was held in Waterford in 1903, while Dublin joined the club back in 1931.

4. St. Patrick’s colour is actually blue

Before green came on the scene, blue was the colour associated with St Patrick. The earliest depictions of Ireland’s patron saint show him clothed in blue garments, not green, and in fact when George III created a new order of chivalry for the Kingdom of Ireland in 1783 its official colour was a sky blue known as “St Patrick's Blue.” 

It’s thought that the shift to green happened over time because of Ireland’s nickname – the Emerald Isle, as well as the green in the Irish flag, the shamrock and the idea of the country’s 40 shades of lush green fields. Traditions like the wearing of green evolved over time.

5. Snakes, what snakes?

Among the many legends associated with St Patrick is that he stood on top a hillside and delivered a sermon that drove Ireland’s serpents into the sea. It’s true the island is snake-free, but in fact the story is likely an allegory for Patrick eradicating paganism on the island. Research suggests snakes were never resident in the Emerald Isle in the first place. 

There are no signs of snakes in the country’s fossil record and water has surrounded Ireland since the last glacial period. Before that, the region was covered in ice and would have been too cold even for reptiles.

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