The Truth About St. Patrick’s Day | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 14, 2025)
About this episode
Think St. Patrick’s Day is all about wearing green, drinking Guinness, and pretending you know what a shamrock is? Well… not exactly.Turns out, St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish, Ireland never had snakes, blue was the original color, and pubs in Ireland were actually CLOSED on St. Patrick’s Day until the 1970s. So how did this solemn religious feast turn into an excuse to drink like a medieval monk? Irish-Americans, that’s how.Gordy breaks down the real history of St. Patrick’s Day, the myths that people still believe, and how an enslaved teenager became the patron saint of Ireland.
Sources:
- Freeman, Philip. St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
- National Museum of Ireland. The History of St. Patrick’s Day.
- Ó Croínín, Dáibhí. Early Medieval Ireland, 400–1200. Longman, 1995.
Irish Times. Why St. Patrick’s Day Was Once a Sober Affair.
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