Early medieval tradition credits him with being the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. He is regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland and credited with converting a society that practiced a form of Celtic polytheism.

About 33 million Americans -- 10.5% of the total population -- reported Irish ancestry in the 2013 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The clurichaun is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his great love of drinking and a tendency to haunt wine cellars.

There is still not a consensus over the precise botanical species of clover that is the "true" shamrock, but Trifolium dubium (Lesser clover) is considered to be the shamrock by roughly half of Irish people, and Trifolium repens (White clover) by another third, with the remaining fifth split between Trifolium pretense, Medicago lupulina, Oxalis acetosella and various other species of Trifolium and Oxalis.

In 1759, Arthur Guinness left home and headed to Dublin where he signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum on a dilapidated brewery at St. James' Gate.

Saint Patrick's color was blue, not green, according to historians. The specific hue was a light shade called St. Patrick's blue which can still be seen on ancient Irish flags.

St. Patrick wasn't Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 385 to an aristocratic Christian family.

At the age of 16, he was captured and enslaved by Irish marauders and taken as a slave to Ireland. He lived there for six years before escaping and returning to his family.

St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope, making his saintly status somewhat questionable.

The chance of finding a single four-leaf clover is about one in 10,000, but don't tell that to Glen Alpine resident Suzi Mekhitarian who plucked 21 four-leaf clovers from her front yard in 2014.