Saint Patrick
St Patrick is most famous for bringing Christianity to Ireland. He was kidnapped as a child and sold as a slave in Ireland. He escaped to France where he studied to be a priest and later a bishop. He returned to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. He travelled a lot and a great number of places all over the British Isles are named after him or has a street or church bearing his name. The legend says that he used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (The father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) to the King of the Irish people.
St. Patrick is also supposed to have driven the snakes from Ireland. Tales tell about him standing upon a hill, using a wooden staff to drive the snakes into the sea. The snake is often a symbol of something evil and this legend is perhaps one way to show how St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland.
However; there are still no snakes in
The Shamrock
The shamrock is Ireland's national symbol. It is said to be connected to Ireland's patron saint St. Patrick. Irish people wear this symbol on the National Day on the 17th of March. This celebration is called St. Patrick's Day, because St. Patrick is supposed to have died on this date.
Facts about Ireland
The average height of Irish men is 5' 7".
The average height of Irish women is 5'5".
90% of Irish nationals are Catholic but only 30% ever attend church.
The average Irish adult spends 3,500 euro a year on alcohol.
The most popular Irish Radio station is RTE, attracting 1.1 Million listeners every weekday.
The Irish report the lowest annual number of UFO sightings in Europe.
The Irish eat 12 million cream eggs between New Years Day and Easter.
70% of married Irish women would consider having an affair while n a foreign holiday without their spouse or children.
90% of all Irish men would do the same.
The Irish buy 20 million cigarettes a day.
Experts believe that the average price of a 3-bedroom house in Dublin will rise to 250,000 by 2005.
The most popular cars in Ireland are the Ford Fiesta & Focus, the Toyota Yaris and the 3 series BMW.
The average Irish household has three TV's and two video recorders.
The average Irish married couple has sex one and a halftimes a week.
The average Irish single couple has sex four times a week.
The average unattached Irish male only has sex once every six months.
76% of all Irish nine-year-olds have tried alcohol and cigarettes.
63% of all Irish people think that corrupt politicians should be made bankrupt and then imprisoned.
73% of Americans are unable to locate Ireland on a map bereft of country names.
Bra sales in Ireland increased by 4million between 1998 and 1999.
Raymond O'Brien is the shortest person in Irish history. The midget, who died in 1795, was one foot eleven inches tall.
Less than two percent of the Irish population have been bitten by poisonous snakes.
The Irish drink four million pints of tea a day.
The average Irish farmer receives 40,000 euro in EC subsidies every year.
Ireland has one of the lowest rates of crime against tourists in the western world.
Dublin is the Gay capital of Ireland with over ninety percent of the indigenous gay population residing there.
The average Irish family is made up of two parents and two point nine children.
Irish women believe that thirty is the best age to get married and begin a family.
Irish men believe that thirty-five is early enough to settle down.
Only 9% of the Irish population are natural red heads.
May is generally the driest month of the year in Ireland.
Galway is the Hash capital of Ireland.
Dublin is the Smack capital of Ireland.
RTE's "The Late Late Show" is the world's longest running Talk Show, initially hosted by Gay Byrne, Pat "The Plank" Kenny now hosts the show.
57% of Irish people wear glasses or contact lenses.
In 1907, Bernard Murphy legally swapped his daughter for three cows and a sheep at a Donegal market.
Cat's now out number dogs by two to one as Ireland's most popular pet.
Almost 100% of Irish Catholic children take a pledge to stay away from alcohol until they are eighteen. Only 2% of them actually stick to it.
58% of practicing Catholics see the church as outdated and in need of major overhaul.
Dublin boasts one pub for every 120 head of population.
Tourists cite the severe lack of Dublin taxi's on weekend nights as the main reason they would not recommend the city as a short break destination to their friends.
Only 1/8 of Irish people under the age of 24 are married.
Irish marriages last an average of thirteen years although the majority do not end in divorce. Irish couples prefer to separate and live in sin with their new partners rather than go through costly legal proceedings.
An album only needs to sell 5,000 copies to top the Irish music charts.
A book only needs to sell 3,000 copies to top the Irish best seller's list.
The Canary Islands are the most popular sunshine holiday destination with retired Irish citizens.
89% percent of the population were in favour of permanently separating Northern Ireland from the Republic.
The fattest Irish person on record was Aine Gowan. At the time of her death she weighed over thirty stone.