Saint Patrick — who he actually was
Born in Roman Britain ~385 AD, kidnapped to Ireland, became patron saint. Surprising biography.
Q1.On which date is St. Patrick's Day observed every year?Tap to reveal
Answer: March 17
The date is traditionally held to be the day of Patrick's death in the fifth century, not his birthday.
Q2.Saint Patrick is the principal patron saint of which country, where March 17 is a national public holiday?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ireland
He shares the title with two other patron saints of Ireland, Brigid of Kildare and Columba.
Q3.In what capacity was the teenage Patrick first brought to Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: As a slave
In his own writing Patrick says he was seized by Irish raiders from his family home at about the age of sixteen.
Q4.Patrick was not Irish by birth. On which island was he born, according to his own account?Tap to reveal
Answer: Britain
He names his home as Bannavem Taburniae, a place historians have never been able to locate with certainty.
Q5.What is the title of the short autobiographical Latin text that Patrick wrote about his life and faith?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Confessio
It is one of only two surviving documents written by Patrick himself, the other being an open letter of protest.
Q6.What work did Patrick do during his six years of captivity in Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Herding sheep
He later wrote that he prayed many times a day while tending the flocks, and that his faith grew during those lonely years.
Q7.Patrick's surviving letter is addressed to the soldiers of which British warlord, whose men had enslaved newly baptized Irish converts?Tap to reveal
Answer: Coroticus
In the letter Patrick excommunicates the raiders and demands that the captives be released.
Q8.Which town in Northern Ireland did Patrick make his main church, and which remains the seat of the Primate of All Ireland today?Tap to reveal
Answer: Armagh
The city now has two cathedrals bearing Patrick's name, one Church of Ireland and one Roman Catholic.
Q9.On which mountain in County Mayo is Patrick said to have fasted for forty days, a site still climbed by pilgrims every July?Tap to reveal
Answer: Croagh Patrick
The main pilgrimage takes place on Reek Sunday, the last Sunday of July, when thousands walk to the small chapel on the summit.
Q10.Before Patrick's mission, a bishop named Palladius was sent to Ireland in 431 AD by which pope?Tap to reveal
Answer: Pope Celestine I
The chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine recorded Palladius being sent to the Irish who already believed in Christ, proving Christianity reached Ireland before Patrick did.
Irish history and culture
Gaelic, Celtic origins, the Great Famine (1845-1852), Irish independence (1922).
Q1.What is the capital city of Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Dublin
The city's name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn, meaning black pool, after a tidal pool where the River Poddle met the Liffey.
Q2.Which famous stout has been brewed at St. James's Gate in Dublin since 1759?Tap to reveal
Answer: Guinness
Founder Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the brewery site.
Q3.Which musical instrument is the official national emblem of Ireland and appears on its coins?Tap to reveal
Answer: The harp
Ireland is the only country in the world to use a musical instrument as its national emblem.
Q4.The Great Famine of the 1840s was triggered by the repeated failure of which crop?Tap to reveal
Answer: The potato
About one million people died and roughly another million emigrated, cutting the island's population by around a fifth within a decade.
Q5.In which year did the Easter Rising take place in Dublin?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1916
Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic outside the General Post Office, which served as the rebels' headquarters.
Q6.Which Irish poet won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923?Tap to reveal
Answer: W. B. Yeats
Three more Irish writers have followed him to the prize: George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney.
Q7.Which native Irish sport, played with a wooden stick and a small ball, is often called the fastest field game in the world?Tap to reveal
Answer: Hurling
The women's version is called camogie, and both games hold their All-Ireland finals at Croke Park in Dublin.
Q8.What is the Irish-language name of the state, as given in the 1937 Constitution and printed on Irish postage stamps?Tap to reveal
Answer: Éire
The Constitution gives the name in both languages, with Ireland as the English form.
Q9.Which Irish High King was killed at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the same day his forces defeated a Viking-led army?Tap to reveal
Answer: Brian Boru
The battle was fought on Good Friday, and it is traditionally seen as the end of Viking power in Ireland.
Q10.Which Irish novelist set the entire action of his 1922 novel Ulysses on a single day, 16 June 1904?Tap to reveal
Answer: James Joyce
Fans mark that date every year as Bloomsday, named after the novel's central character Leopold Bloom.
Leprechauns, shamrocks, and folklore
Why shamrocks (Patrick used them to teach the Trinity), leprechauns origins, pot of gold.
Q1.According to legend, which three-leaved plant did Saint Patrick use to explain the Holy Trinity?Tap to reveal
Answer: The shamrock
The name comes from the Irish seamróg, meaning little clover, and it refers to several species of small clover rather than one plant.
Q2.In folklore, what does a leprechaun hide at the end of a rainbow?Tap to reveal
Answer: A pot of gold
Tradition says a captured leprechaun must reveal where it is hidden, but he vanishes the instant his captor looks away.
Q3.Which creatures did Saint Patrick supposedly banish from Ireland, according to a famous legend?Tap to reveal
Answer: Snakes
Ireland has never had native snakes, since the island was cut off by sea before they could return after the last Ice Age, so the tale is usually read as a symbol for driving out paganism.
Q4.What craft are leprechauns traditionally said to practise?Tap to reveal
Answer: Shoemaking
In the old tales a leprechaun is heard before he is seen, tapping away with a tiny hammer at a single shoe.
Q5.What is the name of the female spirit of Irish folklore whose wailing is said to foretell a death in the family?Tap to reveal
Answer: The banshee
The word comes from the Irish bean sí, meaning woman of the fairy mound.
Q6.How many leaves does a lucky clover have, as opposed to a shamrock?Tap to reveal
Answer: Four
The extra leaf is a rare natural variation of the common clover and has no connection to the Saint Patrick legend.
Q7.In older Irish tradition, what colour of coat was a leprechaun usually described as wearing, before green became standard?Tap to reveal
Answer: Red
W. B. Yeats wrote that solitary fairies such as the leprechaun wore red jackets, while the trooping fairies wore green.
Q8.Which race of gods and heroes from early Irish mythology has a name meaning the people of the goddess Danu?Tap to reveal
Answer: Tuatha Dé Danann
In legend they retreated underground into the fairy mounds after their defeat, becoming the sídhe of later folklore.
Q9.The Blarney Stone, said to grant the gift of the gab to anyone who kisses it, is set in a castle in which Irish county?Tap to reveal
Answer: County Cork
Kissing the stone means leaning backwards over a drop from the castle battlements while gripping iron railings.
Q10.Which legendary Irish giant is said to have built the Giant's Causeway on the Antrim coast?Tap to reveal
Answer: Finn McCool
Geologists explain the roughly 40,000 interlocking basalt columns as cooled lava from a volcanic eruption around 60 million years ago.
Modern St. Patrick's Day celebrations
Chicago River dyeing, NYC parade (oldest, started 1762), Dublin's modern celebration.
Q1.What colour is most associated with St. Patrick's Day celebrations today?Tap to reveal
Answer: Green
The colour originally linked to Saint Patrick was blue, and a shade known as St. Patrick's blue still appears on the standard of the Irish president.
Q2.In which American city has the downtown river been dyed green every St. Patrick's Day since 1962, a tradition started by the local plumbers' union?Tap to reveal
Answer: Chicago
The dye is released from boats on the Chicago River and the colour lasts only a few hours.
Q3.The phrase Erin go Bragh, seen on parade banners every March 17, translates roughly as what?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ireland forever
It is an English rendering of the Irish Éirinn go Brách and was used as a rallying cry long before it became a parade slogan.
Q4.In which year was New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade first held, making it one of the oldest in the world?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1762
The first march was made up of Irish soldiers serving in the British army, more than a decade before the United States existed.
Q5.What salted meat and vegetable dish became the classic Irish-American St. Patrick's Day meal?Tap to reveal
Answer: Corned beef and cabbage
In Ireland itself bacon was the usual pairing, and Irish immigrants in New York adopted corned beef as a cheaper substitute.
Q6.In which year did St. Patrick's Day first become an official public holiday in Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1903
The bank holiday bill was introduced by the Irish MP James O'Mara, and for much of the twentieth century Irish pubs were required by law to close on the day.
Q7.Which Caribbean island, settled by Irish colonists in the seventeenth century, is one of the few places outside Ireland where March 17 is a public holiday?Tap to reveal
Answer: Montserrat
The date there also commemorates a planned slave uprising on 17 March 1768, so the island's celebrations last more than a week and blend Irish and African heritage.
Q8.What is the name of the Tourism Ireland campaign that lights up famous landmarks around the world in green on March 17?Tap to reveal
Answer: Global Greening
The Sydney Opera House was the first landmark to take part when the campaign began in 2010.
Hosting St. Patrick's trivia
St. Patrick's trivia works at pub events. Mix history + culture + green-themed visual rounds.
Trivio.NET has St. Patrick's packs in the Holidays & Events category.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Saint Patrick Irish?
No — born in Roman Britain. Kidnapped to Ireland at age 16, later became patron saint.
Why shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day?
Patrick used three-leaf clovers to teach the Trinity (Father/Son/Holy Spirit) to pagan Irish.
Where can I find St. Patrick's trivia packs?
Trivio.NET's Holidays & Events category has St. Patrick's packs.
When did St. Patrick's Day become a global celebration?
1700s in Irish-American communities. Chicago River dyeing started 1962.
