Shamrocks, Society Balls, and Political Speeches: St. Patrick’s Day in the Late 19th Century

by Kimberly Keagan

Many Americans can trace their ancestry back to Ireland. In my own family tree, my father’s side includes McClendons and Gillilands who settled in North Carolina during the 1700s. My husband’s lineage includes Murphys who made their home in Canada in the 1800s. Our daughter, with her striking red hair and green eyes, surprised us all but proved that Irish roots can run deep!

With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, I found myself curious about how people in the late 19th century celebrated this beloved Irish holiday. While today’s festivities often center on wearing green and enjoying parades, back then, the holiday carried a deeper cultural and political significance.

 

In both Gilded Age America and Victorian Britain, St. Patrick's Day was not simply about heritage—it was about identity, faith, political influence, and social standing.

 

 

A postcard from the early 1900s. Author's collection.

By the 1890s, Irish immigrants and their descendants had firmly established themselves in American cities such as New York City, Boston, and Chicago. What had begun as immigrant enclaves were becoming political and economic power centers.

For many Irish Americans, St. Patrick’s Day was more than celebration — it was visibility.In New York, the parade organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians had already become a major annual spectacle. Regimental bands marched. Green banners rippled above crowds. Clergy, fraternal organizations, and military units processed through the streets. Politicians eager to secure Irish-American votes made conspicuous appearances.  

 

Marchers in the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City in the 1890s. Getty Images.

In working-class neighborhoods, festivities spilled into the streets and parish halls. But among the upper classes — particularly those who had climbed into positions of influence — celebrations often moved indoors. Elite clubs and private homes hosted formal dinners featuring corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and hearty stews. Some hostesses arranged elaborate green-themed soirées decorated with golden harps and shamrocks. Society columns occasionally noted such gatherings, marking them as fashionable yet culturally meaningful affairs.

Faith remained central. Catholic families attended special Masses honoring St. Patrick’s missionary legacy. Sermons often emphasized perseverance, resilience, and loyalty — virtues closely associated with Irish identity in America. Charity drives on March 17th supported orphanages, hospitals, and relief funds for struggling communities both at home and in Ireland.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, NY, circa 1895. Photo from author's collection.

Across the Atlantic, however, observance took on a different tone.

In Victorian England, St. Patrick’s Day was generally more restrained among the broader British population. Yet in cities with strong Irish communities, such as Liverpool, Manchester, and London, March 17th brought church services, modest gatherings, music, and poetry readings.

One of the most enduring traditions began under Queen Victoria. In 1893, she formalized the custom of presenting shamrocks to Irish soldiers, a gesture of recognition and respect. That tradition continues today with the Irish Guards, who still receive shamrocks each March 17th.

Among the Irish aristocracy living in England, celebrations tended to be refined and private with dinner parties, musical evenings, and literary tributes to Ireland’s saints and poets.

But beneath the elegance lay political tension.

The Irish Home Rule movement was gaining strength in the 1890s. Public meetings and speeches advocating self-governance were often strategically scheduled on St. Patrick’s Day, giving the holiday added symbolic weight. Newspapers frequently reported on rallies and demonstrations, highlighting the intersection of cultural celebration and political aspiration.

Photo retrieved from www.ppt-online.com

Whether in the grand avenues of New York, the drawing rooms of London, or the pulpit of a parish church, St. Patrick’s Day in the late 19th century offered something powerful: a public affirmation that Irish identity endured.

Kimberly Keagan is a former corporate financial writer (not very romantic) who now crafts Gilded Age historical romances filled with strong heroines, swoon-worthy heroes, faith, and a touch of humor. Her debut novel, Perfect, released in May 2025, and Risky Business, the third book in her Hearts on Display series released on February 18, 2026. Go to KimberlyKeagan.com and download her free Christmas novelette!

  

 

Interesting Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

 

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Only a week or so ago, the United States celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. I’ll be honest, despite the fact that my family has a largely Irish ancestry, that day passed mostly unheralded in my household. Yes, I wore green, but outside of that, we didn’t celebrate the day. Again, being honest…I’ve never really understood the purpose in the holiday, other than for cities to flood their rivers with green dye and people to color their beers the same way.

Chicago River dyed green for
St. Patrick's Day.

 

So Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

 

Since the 17^th century, St. Patrick’s Day has been known in Christian denominations that venerate the saints as his traditional feast day. Not only does it celebrate the life of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, but also the coming of Christianity to Ireland. Originally, it was celebrated only in religious circles as a quiet day of introspection and prayer, but as the Irish left the Emerald Isle and came to other countries (particularly the United States), it began to take on a larger meaning of celebrating one’s Irish culture and heritage.

 

Knowing these facts, it would be easy to assume that the man who spawned the celebrations on March 17 each year was a native of Ireland. However, such assumptions are wrong. Patrick was born in Great Britain around roughly A.D. 385. Beyond that, his family was thought to be part of the Roman aristocracy, so his parents or generations before them could’ve been from the area we now know as Italy. In other words, his true heritage is a mystery.

Stained glass window from St. Benin's
Church commemorating St. Patrick.

How Did Patrick Become the Patron Saint of Ireland?

 

In fact, that journey started before Patrick even came to know Christ as his Savior. At the age of sixteen, young Patrick’s well-to-do family lived on a British estate which came under attack by Irish marauders. So as a teen, Patrick was captured and taken to Ireland where he spent six years enslaved and tending sheep. He spent much of that time scared and alone, so he prayed. And in those prayers, he came to know and love Christ.

 

After six years in captivity, he believed God spoke a word to him that it was time to leave Ireland. The bold young man left his place of captivity (thought to be County Mayo) and walked to the coast and ultimately escaped back to Britain. There, with his newfound faith in Christ, he began pursuing training to become a priest, and at some point during that fifteen-year training process, believed God told him to return to Ireland, both to support the Christians who were already there and to convert others to Christianity. He devoted his life to this new mission.

Did St. Patrick truly banish the snakes
from Ireland?

Is It True That St. Patrick Banished Snakes from Ireland?

 

If you’ve heard any lore regarding St. Patrick, you’ve probably heard this story—that while preaching a sermon in the Irish countryside, his words were so empowered that it drove every snake from Ireland. Far be it from me to say that the power of God couldn’t fall and such a miraculous event occur…I firmly believe God can do anything and miracles still occur today. However, common consensus on this detail of Patrick’s life leans toward it being false. Some even say that it was more of an allegorical tale that used snakes to represent the pagan beliefs of many Irish people of that day. So rather than driving serpents from the land, Patrick drove out the pagan rituals and reliance on false gods.

 

There are plenty of other interesting facts about this March 17^th holiday that I could share, but this gives you the historical background of the man on whose life and ministry the original day was founded upon. 

Shamrocks (i.e. 3-leaf clovers)

 

It’s Your Turn: Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and if so, how do you commemorate the day?

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

The Shamrock, The Trinity, and more

by Susan G Mathis

In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day and because I'm Irish, I want to share with you how St. Patrick used a simple weed to share the Gospel.

St. Patrick lived in the fifth century Ireland where the shamrock clover was abundant, even a staple food for livestock. The shamrock is a weed that grows quickly and is hard to get rid of. In Ireland it was everywhere, so as Patrick traveled the country, he had a ready-made symbol that he could easily find, pluck, and use as a teaching tool. Sounds like something that Jesus would have done, doesn’t it?

As he spoke, Patrick would note that the shamrock has three leaves, just as there are three persons in the trinity. In using the shamrock as a symbol, he taught about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who they were, what they did, and how they could change the listeners’ lives. Then, whenever folks would see the shamrock in their garden or fields or yard, their minds would instantly connect to the Trinity and think of God. Brilliant!

As Patrick traveled throughout Ireland spreading Christianity, the shamrock became an important symbol of the Trinity and of God’s work in man’s life. Even today, the shamrock is Ireland’s national symbol and still points to the Trinity as well as to 1 Corinthians 13:13, “and now these three remain: faith, hope, and love”. The number three is so important to the Irish that they use three cords in their Celtic knot, in their three-fold repetitive rhythm of Irish storytelling, in their idea of past, present, and future, and a lot more.

According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau, about 56.7 million Americans say they have an Irish heritage. That’s nearly 12 percent of the U.S. population, and many Irish still retain a sense of their Irish heritage, including me. I love tea, Celtic music, step dancing, and the color green.

When Irish immigrants came to the U.S. and Canada, they weren’t looking for a handout. They were looking for hope and a future for them and their children, a topic I cover in depth in my novels. These immigrants took many of the menial jobs, everything from farming to hard labor to domestic work. And in large cities, the Irish are known for being at the top of the public service sector, especially law enforcement, teaching, and firefighting.

The Irish have contributed to the American culture in so many ways: literature, film, art, politics, law, medicine, and sports, just to name a few. Irish-Americans you’d know are Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Pierce Brosnan, and Presidents such as Kennedy, Reagan, Andrew Jackson, and over a dozen others.

So why am I sharing this with you? Because, whether you have Irish heritage or not, you do have a heritage—traditions, beliefs, and achievements that are a part of your history. Your heritage has laid a foundation for you, whether you are conscious of it or not. Exploring that heritage will enrich your life, if you take the time to do so.

For me, my Irish heritage runs deep, but I forgot about a lot of it in the busyness of living life. It was everything Irish in my childhood home, and the color green was prominent. I learned a strong work ethic and my Irishness became a part of me.

So, when I started researching about Ireland and the Irish for my novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, I realized that my Irish heritage, in a large part, made me who I am today. I assessed all of it—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and embraced once again the “Irishness” of my heritage. I am proud to be Irish!

So, when you see a shamrock during this upcoming holiday, remember that it means so much more than just “the luck o’ the Irish.” It’s represents biblical truth, wise teaching, and a beautiful way to share God’s story.

What tools, symbols, or stories to do you use to share the Gospel?

About The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy

After struggling to accept the changes forced upon her, Margaret Hawkins and her family take a perilous journey on an 1851 immigrant ship to the New World, bringing with her an Irish family quilt she is making.

A hundred and sixty years later, her great granddaughter, Maggie, searches for the family quilt after her ex pawns it. But on their way to creating a family legacy, will these women find peace with the past and embrace hope for the future, or will they be imprisoned by fear and faithlessness?

About Susan:
Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than 20 times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books.

Her first two books of The Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, Devyn’s Dilemma and Katelyn’s Choice are available now, and she’s working on book three. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, and Sara’s Surprise, and her newest, Reagan’s Reward, are also available. Susan’s books have won numerous awards, including the Illumination Book Award, the American Fiction Award, the Indie Excellence Book Award, and the Literary Titan Book Award. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com for more.

St. Patrick and the Irish

According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau, about 56.7 million Americans say they have an Irish heritage. That’s nearly 12 percent of the U.S. population, and many Irish still retain a sense of their Irish heritage, including me. I love tea, Celtic music, step dancing, and the color green.

When Irish immigrants came to the U.S. and Canada, they weren’t looking for a handout. They were looking for hope and a future for them and their children, a topic I cover in depth in my novels. These immigrants took many of the menial jobs, everything from farming to hard labor to domestic work. And in large cities, the Irish are known for being at the top of the public service sector, especially law enforcement, teaching, and firefighting.

The Irish have contributed to the American culture in so many ways: literature, film, art, politics, law, medicine, and sports, just to name a few. Irish-Americans you’d know are Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Pierce Brosnan, and Presidents such as Kennedy, Reagan, Andrew Jackson, and over a dozen others.

So why am I sharing this with you? Because, whether you have Irish heritage or not, you do have a heritage—traditions, beliefs, and achievements that are a part of your history. Your heritage has laid a foundation for you, whether you are conscious of it or not. Exploring that heritage will enrich your life, if you take the time to do so.

For me, my Irish heritage runs deep, but I forgot about a lot of it in the busyness of living life. It was everything Irish in my childhood home, and the color green was prominent. I learned a strong work ethic and my Irishness became a part of me.

So, when I started researching about Ireland and the Irish for my novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, I realized that my Irish heritage, in a large part, made me who I am today. I assessed all of it—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and embraced once again the “Irishness” of my heritage. I am proud to be Irish!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, because I'm Irish, I want to share with you how St. Patrick used a simple weed to share the Gospel.

St. Patrick lived in the fifth century Ireland where the shamrock clover was abundant, even a staple food for livestock. The shamrock is a weed that grows quickly and is hard to get rid of. In Ireland it was everywhere, so as Patrick traveled the country, he had a ready-made symbol that he could easily find, pluck, and use as a teaching tool. Sounds like something that Jesus would have done, doesn’t it?

As he spoke, Patrick would note that the shamrock has three leaves, just as there are three persons in the trinity. In using the shamrock as a symbol, he taught about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who they were, what they did, and how they could change the listeners’ lives. Then, whenever folks would see the shamrock in their garden or fields or yard, their minds would instantly connect to the Trinity and think of God. Brilliant!

As Patrick traveled throughout Ireland spreading Christianity, the shamrock became an important symbol of the Trinity and of God’s work in man’s life. Even today, the shamrock is Ireland’s national symbol and still points to the Trinity as well as to 1 Corinthians 13:13, “and now these three remain: faith, hope, and love”. The number three is so important to the Irish that they use three cords in their Celtic knot, in their three-fold repetitive rhythm of Irish storytelling, in their idea of past, present, and future, and a lot more.

So, when you see a shamrock during this upcoming holiday, remember that it means so much more than just “the luck o’ the Irish.” It’s represents biblical truth, wise teaching, and a beautiful way to share God’s story.

What tools, symbols, or stories to do you use to share the Gospel?

About The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy

After struggling to accept the changes forced upon her, Margaret Hawkins and her family take a perilous journey on an 1851 immigrant ship to the New World, bringing with her an Irish family quilt she is making.

A hundred and sixty years later, her great granddaughter, Maggie, searches for the family quilt after her ex pawns it. But on their way to creating a family legacy, will these women find peace with the past and embrace hope for the future, or will they be imprisoned by fear and faithlessness?

About Susan:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than 20 times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books.


Her first two books of The Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, Devyn’s Dilemma and Katelyn’s Choice are available now, and she’s working on book three. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, and Sara’s Surprise, and her newest, Reagan’s Reward, are also available. Susan’s books have won numerous awards, including the Illumination Book Award, the American Fiction Award, the Indie Excellence Book Award, and the Literary Titan Book Award. Visitwww.SusanGMathis.com for more.

Wearing Of the Green--Irish for a Day

St. Patrick's Day
by Martha Rogers

Every year, thousands of people across our country celebrate what many call "St. Paddy's Day" and have parades and drink green beer to celebrate a man about whom most people know little. So many aren't even aware of the origins of the holiday or the true meaning. All they know is the fun of wearing green, going to parades, eating Irish food, wearing shamrocks of some kind, and having fun at local pubs. I remember getting pinched if I didn't wear something green on March 17. 

Just who was St. Patrick and how did he manage to have a holiday named for him? Curiosity drove me to the internet and the number of websites telling the

history of the holiday and the story of St. Patrick amazed me. 

The legend has him driving snakes out of Ireland, but did he really drive them out? What was his background? How did all the celebrations surrounding him get started?

St. Patrick, who wasn't Irish by birth or descent, was a Catholic priest whose birth name is believed to have been Maewyn Succat. He changed it to Patricius or Patrick, derived from the Latin term for "father figure." Born in Briton at the time it was part of the Roman Empire, he was taken to Ireland as a slave. Whether he escaped or was released is all speculation, but he later returned to Ireland and became involved with converting Druids to Christianity. 

As far as the snake legend is concerned, Ireland never really had snakes like

that and it is believed snakes had become the symbol for the Druids. However, St. Patrick didn't convert all of Ireland to Christianity, so tale is believed to be simply a myth or legend. 







Another myth associated with St. Patrick is the use of the shamrock, a three leaved clover, to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity, but nothing like that was ever discovered in his writings, so it joined the ranks of myth and legends. However, the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick and thus a part of the celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

Patrick and his four disciples traveled all over Ireland converting clan chiefs, building churches, opening schools and monasteries and convincing many Irish to become monks and nuns. For forty years he preached throughout Ireland. Most of his life was spent in poverty. He died on March 17, 461 A.D. and that became the day to celebrate his life. He died in his Church in Sabhall, County Down.

The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in 1737 in Boston to celebrate the Irish culture in the new colonies. The idea took hold and made it back to Dublin as well as spread to other parts of the colonies. Eventually it spread to other countries and became a popular holiday. In Ireland, it is a national holiday and has been celebrated since the beginning of the 20th century, but they didn't hold a parade in his honor until 1930. 

In 1848, several Irish Aid Societies in New York decided to band together for one big parade. That parade has grown into the world's oldest civilian parade and the largest in the U.S. Other large parades are held in Boston, Chicago, Savannah, and Philadelphia. Chicago is even known to dye the river green as it flows through the area. 

Today, St. Patrick's Day isn't seen as a religious holiday, but as a day to have fun and drink Guinness beer and dress like Leprechauns. Celtic music, dancing and wearing green are a part of the holiday. It's now largely symbolic, but it's a great day to have fun with your friends. Erin Go Braugh.


To learn more about this day, visit https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day

Martha Rogers is a multi-published author and writes a weekly devotional for ACFW. Since receiving her first novel contract at age 73, Martha has written and published over 50 books. Martha and her husband Rex live in Houston, Texas where they are active members of First Baptist Church. They are the parents of three sons and grandparents to eleven grandchildren and great-grandparents to five. Martha is a retired teacher with twenty-eight years teaching Home Economics and English at the secondary level and eight years at the college level supervising student teachers and teaching freshman English. She is the Director of the Texas Christian Writers Conference held in Houston in August each year, a member of ACFW, ACFW WOTS chapter in Houston, and a member of the writers’ group, Inspirational Writers Alive.

Find Martha at:

www.marthawrogers.com, www.hhhistory.com 

Twitter:  Martharogers2                                                                                 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarthaRogersAuthor                                    

The Mystique of Irish Monasteries and Book Giveaway -- By Christine Lindsay

Giveaway details for Londonderry Dreaming at end of blog post.

Irish monasteries are often attributed to St. Patrick when in fact the most famous missionary to Ireland had little to do with building grand structures. 

Patrick was not even the first missionary to Ireland, nor the most educated, though he did endure more hardship than most wandering monks, being exposed to persecution from druids and robber gangs. 

But thanks to Patrick who went as a missionary to Ireland in 432, and Irish monks, the Celtic church in Ireland was a beacon for Europe during the dark ages after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Wandering Irish monks with their preference for evangelizing laid the foundation for Christian centers in Western Europe by going

Looking our from a beehive hut in the
Skelligs Island monastery 
Photo Attribution: I Dagmar

out and returning to their humble retreats for rest and rejuvenation.

Very early monasteries were extremely rigorous such as the rugged island of Skelligs in County Kerry. A barren pinnacle of rock jutting out of the Atlantic was

home for 5 to 600 years for ascetic Irish monks. They lived in stone beehive-like structures, worshipped and were a community in 2 boat-shaped oratories within a protective boundary.

From the 6^th to 8^th centuries, the relatively isolated Ireland attracted scholars from Europe. They came to the misty, windswept island to receive the highest level of education in all of western civilization at that time.

Illuminated page from the Book of Kells

As the centuries passed, Irish monasteries attracted wealthy nobles from Britain and Europe. Patronage like this allowed literacy and the arts to flourish, such as illuminated texts like the Book of Kells, and Celtic masonry that can be seen in the lavish detail of stone crosses dotting all over Ireland.

In the 11^th and 12^th centuries the great monasteries such as Clonmacnoise and Glendalough were established. These communities are more what we think of today in regards to medieval monasteries. 

Often set beside a river to provide self-sufficiency, these larger Christian centers had their own water-mill for grinding wheat and barley. At one end of the community would be a small stone church, and in some larger monasteries a cathedral as

Glendalugh Monaster, Co. Wicklow
Photo Attribution: Schcambo at English Wikepedia

well. These later structures were often modeled on Gothic and Roman styles, with flamboyant tracery and fine tomb carvings set in within church graveyard surrounded by low stone walls.

Dwellings for craftsmen would be provided, and in the center stood a tall, round

tower for a constant watch against raiders.

These round towers were often over 100 feet tall. Used as bell

Round Tower, Devenish Island,
Photo Attribution: HENRY CLARK

towers, they were the critically needed lookout and refuge against Viking raiders, as well as a place to store valuable illuminated manuscripts. The entrance to stone towers could be 13 feet high off the ground and reached by ladder, which in the event of a raid would be pulled up and inside. Other ladders within the round towers connected the wooden floors within. 

Sprinkled around the remainder of the community would the abbot’s house, the refectory and kitchen, gatehouse as well as guest houses and stables, and the monks’ dwelling and barns. A high Celtic cross marked the monastery boundary.

My aunt, me, and daughter Lana  outside
St. Patrick's in Downpatrick N. Ireland on
mine and Lana's trip in 2006

While St. Patrick never built a grand structure his name graces many. I’ve visited a few, including the church in Downpatrick N. Ireland where the famous missionary to Ireland is buried.

Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction. Tales of her Irish ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in Colonial India inspired her multi-award-winning series Twilight of the British Raj, Book 1 Shadowed in Silk, Book 2 Captured by Moonlight, and explosive finale Veiled at Midnight.

Christine’s Irish wit and her use of setting as a character is evident in her contemporary romance Londonderry Dreaming and her newest release Sofi’s Bridge.

Aside from being a busy writer and speaker, Christine and her husband live on the west coast of Canada. Coming August 2016 is the release of Christine’s non-fiction book Finding Sarah—Finding Me: A Birthmother’s Story.

Please drop by Christine’s website www.ChristineLindsay.org or follow her on Amazon on Twitter. Subscribe to her quarterly newsletter, and be her friend on Pinterest , Facebook, and  Goodreads

To win a copy of Christine Lindsay's contemporary romance Ebook Londonderry Dreaming, set on the rugged Antrim coast, leave a comment. Please spell out your email address so I can contact the winner. To enter your name again share this post on social media and leave a comment to let me know. I will draw the winner of the Sunday following this post. 

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day watch this fun video with toe-tapping Irish music on the book trailer for Londonderry Dreaming. Click HERE to watch trailer.

FUN FACTS ABOUT ST. PATRICK'S DAY - Cynthia Hickey

Being Scot-Irish, I love everything Scottish or Irish. I'm one of the first to buy a St. Patrick's Day Tee-shirt at the local store and wear Shamrock earrings. Kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland is on my bucket list. Those are some facts about me. Below are fun facts about St. Patrick's Day compiled by WSAW.com. Happy reading and Luck of the Irish, to you!

Fun Facts about St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The actual color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick's Day during the 19th century. Green, in Irish legends, was worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people to encourage their crops to grow.

St. Patrick did not actually drive snakes out of Ireland; the snakes represent the pagans that he converted to Christianity.

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

In Chicago, on St. Patrick's Day, the rivers are dyed green. Mayor Daley is also of Irish descent.

In Seattle, there is a ceremony where a green stripe is painted down the roads.

Most Catholics attend mass in the morning and then attend the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Shamrocks are worn on the lapel on this day.

In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair

Many young people dye their hair green for the special day.

Many people wear green on this holiday to avoid being pinched.

The phrase, "Drowning The Shamrock" is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Many bars in the United States, and abroad, serve green beer to celebrate St. Patty's Day.

Lucky Charms, a favorite cereal brand among many, young and old, was created in 1963, with its popular mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun. Its jig is a memorable tune for many, including the young at heart:
Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes
Clovers and Blue moons
Pots of gold and rainbows,
And the red balloon
That’s the luck of me lucky charms!
Their magically delicious!

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com