What Do You Know About St. Patrick’s Day?

What do you know about the man, his land, and a few other Irish morsels? Thanks to the The History Channel, the luck of the Irish is all you’ll need for this St. Patrick’s Day quiz.

Questions

1) St. Patrick wasn’t always a Christian. What was he before his conversion?

Hindu
Pagan
Atheist

2) The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City was held in what year?

1912
1852
1766

3) Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of what group?

The Protestant middle class
The Catholic Church
The local worker’s union

4) How many poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish poured into America as a result of the Great Potato Famine?

None. They were all Protestants.
Close to a million
About 400,000

5) The Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in what year?

1906
1744
1845

6) The American Protestant majority despised the Irish immigrants for their religious beliefs and funny accents. They (the Irish immigrants) had trouble finding even menial labor. When they took to city streets on St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them as:

Snakes
Monkeys
Wood-boring beetles

7) Of its 300+ million people, how many in the United States claim an Irish ancestry?

34.7 million
26.8 million
101 million

8) The legend of St. Patrick driving snakes from Ireland is:

True
False
A mixture of facts and myth

9) St. Patrick was born in:

Scotland
Ireland
Britain

10) Of those listed below, who is not Irish?

Colin Farrell
Liam Neeson
Daniel Day-Lewis

11) March 17, 461 was a significant day in the life of St. Patrick because:

It was the day he was born.
It was the day he died.
It was the day he converted to Catholicism.

12) Contrary to Irish Legend, Walt Disney’s 1959 film, Darby O’Gill & the Little People, portrayed leprechauns as:

Cantankerous little men
Cheerful and friendly
Shoe-mending tricksters

13) Many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with:

Scottish ideals
English rule
Irish winters

14) Slainte! (Cheers!) Which of these drinking toasts is not attributed to the Irish?

There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head,
If a man doesn’t drink when he’s living,
How the hell can he drink when he’s dead?

Here’s to you, here’s to me, the best of friends we’ll always be.
But if we ever disagree, forget you! Here’s to me!

Here’s to it and from it and to it again,
If I never get to it to do it again.

15) Erin Go Bragh means:

Ireland Forever
Ireland This Day
Ireland is the World

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Answers

1) St. Patrick wasn’t always a Christian. Before his conversion he was a Pagan.

2) The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City was held in 1766.

3) Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class.

4) Close to a million Catholic Irish poured into America as a result of the Great Potato Famine.

5) The Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845.

6) The American Protestant majority despised the Irish immigrants for their religious beliefs and funny accents. They (the Irish immigrants) had trouble finding even menial labor. When they took to city streets on St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them as monkeys.

7) Of its 300+ million people, 34.7 million in the United States claim an Irish ancestry. This is more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (4.2 million).

8) The legend of St. Patrick driving snakes from Ireland is false. The story was a metaphor for the eradication of pagan ideology from Ireland and the triumph of Christianity.

9) St. Patrick was born in Britain.

10) Daniel Day-Lewis is not Irish.

11) March 17, 461 was a significant day in the life of St. Patrick because it was the day he died.

12) Contrary to Irish Legend, Walt Disney’s 1959 film, Darby O’Gill & the Little People, portrayed leprechauns as cheerful and friendly. According to Irish Legend, leprechauns were cranky souls who were responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies.

13) Many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.

14) This drinking toast is not attributed to the Irish:

Here’s to it and from it and to it again,
If I never get to it to do it again.

15) Erin Go Bragh means Ireland Forever.