A ST PATRICK’S DAY QUIZ

St. Patrick’s Day is an official public holiday injust three places: Ireland, Northern Ireland andwhere else?

A)AustraliaB)CanadaC)MaltaD)Montserrat

According to St. Patrick’s own writings, he firstwent to Ireland as a teenage boy. How did heget there?

A) As a footsoldier in the Roman armyB) As the captive of slave tradersC) In a home-made leather-skinned boatD) With his father, who had been appointed sheriff

Apart from his Confessio, only one other survivingliterary work can be attributed with reasonableconfidence to St. Patrick. What is it?

A) A demand for the release of Christian captivesB) A history of pre-Christian IrelandC) A treatise on reptilesD) An invitation to tribal people to undergo baptism

Which American city held the first St. Patrick’sDay celebration in the United States?

A) Boston, MassachusettsB) Chicago, IllinoisC) New York, New YorkD) Savannah, Georgia

In Ireland, the shamrock is often worn on St.Patrick’s Day. Some wearers also follow an oldcustom called “drowning the shamrock”. How isthis done?

A) By floating it down the Derry with a pinned-on prayer to St. PatrickB) By pouring whiskey over it before drinkingC) By sprinkling it with water before wearing itD) By symbolically “baptizing” it in a wooden bowl

The “shamrock” plant you buy for St. Patrick’sDay at your local nursery or grocery store isusually a wood sorrel (also called “oxalis”). It issold as a shamrock because:

A) The actual shamrock is unimpressively smallB) The sale of shamrocks is illegalC) The true shamrock is too hard to growD) They are one and the same thing

At an old-fashioned St. Patrick’s Day celebrationin Ireland, which of these would you not see?

A) Children clothed all in greenB) Men and women dancing togetherC) Musicians playing the bagpipesD) The wearing of the shamrock

March 17 is the feast of St. Patrick, who is said toHave driven the snakes out of Ireland. On March 16,Some people celebrate St. Urho, who is said to haveHelped Finland in a similar way by driving out:

A) Bears, which had decimated the reindeer populationB) Grasshoppers, which threatened to ruin the grape cropC) Invading Norwegians, whose army was poised for victoryD) Snakes, just like St. Patrick

In North America, a traditional St. Patrick’s Daydinner includes corned beef, cabbage, sodabread and boiled potatoes. Which part of thismeal would not have been traditionally servedin Ireland?

A) CabbageB) Corned beefC) PotatoesD) Soda bread

Although they have no association with St.Patrick himself, the mischievous fairy folk calledleprechauns are a well-known symbol of Irelandand St. Patrick’s Day. What is the leprechauns’traditional occupation?

• A) GardeningB) GoldsmithingC) ShoemakingD) Tinkering