Finney 5: St. Patrick's Day facts

Five myths about St. Patrick's Day:

1. St. Patrick was not Irish. He was Romano-British — that is, part of Britain that was controlled by the Romans when the Romans ran the world. Patrick was captured by Irish pirates when he was 16 and worked six years in hard labor before he escaped, eventually returning as a Christian missionary.

2. Patrick is credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland. There are no snakes in Ireland, but that's not because of Patrick. Ireland, like New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica, doesn't have snakes and never did. The snake is an allegory. The serpent was the symbol of pagans and druids. Patrick did banish them by forcing them to covert to Christianity.

3. Green was not the first color associated with Patrick. It was blue. Historians believe blue, not green, was the first national color of Ireland. The British created an Order of St. Patrick, a mark of chivalry in the Kingdom of Ireland. The Irish Presidential Standard, still in use today, includes a dark blue field with a gold harp.

4. Patrick didn't use the four-leaf clover for luck. He used a three-leaf clover to teach the Christian message of the Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

5. Some historians argue over whether St. Patrick was one guy or two guys. Patrick might have had details of his story blended with another saint with a "P" name, St. Palladius, who may or may not have been the first Christian bishop sent to Ireland a few years before Patrick.

DANIEL P. FINNEY, the Register's Metro Voice columnist, pokes fun at the passing parade daily at DesMoinesRegister.com/Finney5. Reach him at 515-284-8144 or dafinney@dmreg.com. Twitter: @newsmanone.