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English Time - ☘️ Happy St. Patrick's Day! - Festa di S. Patrizio + Irlanda + worksheet 🇮🇪

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Saint Patrick's Day is a worldwide party

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Saint Patrick's Day is a worldwide party

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In the 1971 film The Flight of the Doves, an Irish policeman lifts up a little English girl so that she can see the nearby parade for Saint Patrick's Day. He tells her, 'It's a great day for the Irish.' The little girl exclaims, 'I'm not Irish!', to which the policeman replies, 'You don't have to be Irish to be Irish!' (= non c'è bisogno che tu sia irlandese per essere irlandese!)
Saint Patrick's Day is the national day of Ireland. Every 17 March, the day is celebrated around the globe by millions of people, Irish and not-so-Irish.

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This is a worksheet with some basic facts and exercises about Saint Patrick's Day and Ireland. I've tried to use an easy language that can be understood by beginners. Enjoy!

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William and Kate join world leaders for St. Patrick's Day message 

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William and Kate join world leaders for St. Patrick's Day message 

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Prince William and Kate Middleton join world leaders for St Patrick's Day message

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)

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The 14 best St. Patrick's Day parades all around the world

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The 14 best St. Patrick's Day parades all around the world

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(CNN) - March is a grand time of year when you're Irish. Or when you're of Irish heritage. Or when you wish you were of Irish heritage. Or when you just claim you're Irish even though you're not.

St. Patrick's Day, which is on Tuesday, March 17, in 2020 easily draws out the Irish in plenty of people all over the world.

And one of the best ways we celebrate this is with parades -- boisterous, green-colored, shamrock-festooned, music-blaring parades.

This year, some parades have been canceled to stem the spread of coronavirus, so check parade sites and local news before you pack up to attend.

What follows are 14 of the best St. Patrick's Day parades in destinations around the world, along with a short history of the saint himself and the holiday first.

Patrick was born in 385 A.D., back when Ireland was still pagan territory. When he was 16, the British-born Patrick was brought to Ireland as a slave. He escaped six years later and became a priest.

He eventually returned to the island and started converting the natives to Christianity. He's the patron saint of Ireland and as such is invoked to protect the spiritual and worldly interests of the island and its people.

He died in 461 A.D.

St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. That means banks, stores and businesses close for the day. The holiday has stronger religious overtones in this strongly Catholic country.

The US Census says roughly 32.6 million US residents claimed Irish ancestry in 2017. This is more than six times the population of Ireland (about 5 million). It's more of a secular event and a party in the United States, and plenty of non-Catholics join in.

The first St. Patrick's Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737. And it's just grown from there.

Enough background. Let's get to those parades! Click the link in each city for details:

Boston: Of course this city heavy with the influence of the Irish throws a great parade. Up to a million people can be expected to attend the parade that winds through South Boston. Starting 1 p.m. Sunday, March 15. (All times in the roundup are local).

New Orleans: Like this city needed another excuse to throw a party! In the Big Easy, they have numerous neighborhood parades instead of just one big one.Because that's how NOLA rolls. From Friday, March 13, to Sunday, March 22.

Montserrat: This is another spot with surprising Irish connections. In the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day, this Caribbean island honors those who led an attempted slave uprising. The parade traditionally salutes this spirit with lively drummers and dancing but also a moment of silence. Noon Tuesday, March 17.

Perth, Australia: Irish influence is indeed worldwide, even in faraway Australia. Post-parade activities extend into the early evening. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 14.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery above for past parade highlights in many of these cities. And don't despair if your parade didn't make the list. After all, the "best" St. Patrick's Day Parade is the one you're attending.

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14 best st. patrick's day parades around the world - cnn

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14 of the best St. Patrick's Day parades around the world

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(CNN) - March is a grand time of year when you're Irish. Or when you're of Irish heritage. Or when you wish you were of Irish heritage. Or when you just claim you're Irish even though you're not. St.

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7 Surprising Facts about St. Patrick's Day

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7 Surprising Facts about St. Patrick's Day

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While St. Patrick's Day is now associated with wearing green, parades (when they're not canceled) and beer, the holiday is grounded in history that dates back more than 1,500 years. The earliest known celebrations were held in the 17th century on March 17, marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th century. Learn more about the holiday's history and how it evolved into the event it is today.

1. The Real St. Patrick Was Born in Britain

Much of what is known about St. Patrick's life has been interwoven with folklore and legend. Historians generally believe that St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Britain (not Ireland) near the end of the 4th century. At age 16 he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to a Celtic priest in the area now known as Northern Ireland. After toiling for six years as a shepherd, he escaped back to Britain. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary.

2. There Were No Snakes Around for St. Patrick to Banish from Ireland

Among the legends associated with St. Patrick is that he stood atop an Irish hillside and banished snakes from Ireland-prompting all serpents to slither away into the sea. In fact, research suggests snakes never occupied the Emerald Isle in the first place. There are no signs of snakes in the country's fossil record. And water has surrounded Ireland since the last glacial period. Before that, the region was covered in ice and would have been too cold for the reptiles.

3. Leprechauns Are Likely Based on Celtic Fairies

The red-haired, green-clothed Leprechaun is commonly associated with St. Patrick's Day. The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is "lobaircin," meaning "small-bodied fellow." Belief in leprechauns likely stems from Celtic belief in fairies- tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies.

4. The Shamrock Was Considered a Sacred Plant

The shamrock, a three-leaf clover, has been associated with Ireland for centuries. It was called the "seamroy" by the Celts and was considered a sacred plant that symbolized the arrival of spring. According to legend, St. Patrick used the plant as a visual guide when explaining the Holy Trinity. By the 17th century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism.

5. The First St. Patrick's Day Parade Was Held in America

While people in Ireland had celebrated St. Patrick since the 1600s, the tradition of a St. Patrick's Day parade began in America and actually predates the founding of the United States.

Records show that a St. Patrick's Day parade was held on March 17, 1601, in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade and a St. Patrick's Day celebration a year earlier were organized by the Spanish Colony's Irish vicar Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in Boston in 1737 and in New York City on March 17. Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick's Day parades in New York City, Boston and other early American cities only grew from there. In 2020 and 2021, parades throughout the country, including in New York City and Boston, were canceled or postponed for the first time in decades due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. They returned in 2022.

6. The Irish Were Once Scorned in America

While Irish Americans are now proud to showcase their heritage, the Irish were not always celebrated by fellow Americans. Beginning in 1845, a devastating potato blight caused widespread hunger throughout Ireland. While approximately 1 million perished, another 2 million abandoned their land in the largest-single population movement of the 19th century. Most of the exiles-nearly a quarter of the Irish nation-came to the shores of the United States. Once they arrived, the Irish refugees were looked down upon as disease-ridden, unskilled and a drain on welfare budgets.

7. Corned Beef and Cabbage Was an American Innovation

The meal that became a St. Patrick's Day staple across the country-corned beef and cabbage-was an American innovation. While ham and cabbage were eaten in Ireland, corned beef offered a cheaper substitute for impoverished immigrants. Irish Americans living in the slums of lower Manhattan in the late 19th century and early 20th purchased leftover corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. The Irish would boil the beef three times-the last time with cabbage-to remove some of the brine.

Fact Check

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7 Surprising Facts About St. Patrick's Day | HISTORY

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Who was the real St. Patrick? Was that legend about the snakes true? And why did so many St. Patrick's Day traditions start in America?

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Twinkl Teaching Resources - United States

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☘️ History of St. Patrick's Day | 17 March | Twinkl USA