St Patrick's Day 2017
It's St Patrick's Day today – or St Paddy's Day, as it is sometimes more colloquially known. In Britain, it's notably a day when revellers wear fake ginger beards and over-sized green top hats to work, before retiring early to the pub for a pint (or several) of thick, dark Irish stout . But do you know who St Patrick was? Or how other countries celebrate the day? Let's find out! The first thing you should know about St Patrick is that he is not technically a Saint – he was never canonised by the church. Nor was he born Irish. Nor was his name Patrick! So who was he? The generally accepted theory is that Paddy was born in Scotland and named Maewyn Succat , with Patricius being his Romanicised name – this was later shortened to Patrick. You may have heard the legend that St Paddy drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Whilst it's a good story, this does not seem to be true. Patrick was taken to Ireland as a slave, and during six years of slav...