Though St. Patrick's Day originated in Ireland, the parades, parties, and practice of dyeing rivers green is a purely American tradition and celebration of Irish-American pride.

The holiday was first celebrated in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland as a small religious celebration in honor of an important figure in Irish history. Most people observed by going to church.

St. Patrick was a real person. He lived sometime in the fifth century A.D. and was British, not Irish. He ended up in Ireland because he was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

After seven years of slavery, he escaped back to Britain, but once free, he "felt the call of God to return to Ireland and was a missionary there for the rest of