While it’s true that Ireland is snake-free today, there is no
evidence that they were driven out by St. Patrick. It’s likely
that snakes never made it to Ireland to begin with. As for
shamrocks, there is no historical evidence that St. Patrick
used the shamrock as a symbol to demonstrate Christianity,
as lore suggests.
While St. Patrick’s Day today is dripping in green, blue was
the original color of the Order of St. Patrick. Early depictions
of St. Patrick show him wearing blue, not green. Wearing
green can be traced back to political revolutions in the 1600s
or, interestingly, there are tales of Irish-Americans wearing
green to “make them invisible to leprechauns” in the 1700s,
but neither explanation has anything to do with St. Patrick.
So, what’s the real story? St. Patrick is not Irish. He was
born in Britain near the end of the fourth century, according
to History.com. At the age of 16, Patrick was taken prisoner
by Irish raiders, and he spent 6 years in captivity in Ireland.
While captive, he turned to his religion for solace, as reported
by History.com, and became a devout Christian.
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