Visit our special St. Patrick's Day section for more news, recipes, photos and Irish culture
More than half of Americans are not aware that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, according to a new survey.
A new study commissioned by Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey showed that 51 percent of Americans were stumped when asked about the true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day.
The online study was conducted by Harris Interactive in January, among over 2,000 adults aged 21 and over.
The results show that a mere 25 percent knew that Ireland’s patron saint was not born on Irish soil.
Some 34 percent thought March 17 was St. Patrick’s birthday when it is actually the day he died.
More than 25 percent believe the popular myth that St. Patrick rid Ireland of snakes.
Meanwhile, only 18 percent of respondents agreed that celebrating March 17 represented the true spirit of Ireland.
"At Tullamore Dew, we set out to represent the Irish spirit and culture in an honest and genuine way - we call it Irish True," said Tim Herlihy, of Ireland's County Louth and Brand Ambassador for Tullamore Dew in the United States.
"Americans have long embraced St. Patrick's Day, but this year we want to ensure they know the true story and encourage them to celebrate this special day the Irish True way."
Tullamore Dew Tullamore Dew is the second largest Irish whiskey in the world in the fastest growing category.
Among the Tullamore Dew suggestions for celebrating St. Patrick's Day are:
*Kick off the day with a hearty, traditional Irish breakfast; it's going to be a long day and you'll need sustenance – my favorites include bacon rashers (real back bacon, if you can get it), both white and black pudding, fried eggs and a strong cup of Irish breakfast tea
* Take in a local St. Patrick's Day parade; in Ireland, a parade can be found in a big city complete with massive floats right down to a simple tractor parade in a small village. Every city, town and village has its own parade on St. Patrick's Day. In America it's no different – go out there and show your support!
* Catch some Irish entertainment; pull up a chair at your favorite pub and listen to a traditional session band or, if you're in NYC, get tickets to the Craic Festival for the best in Irish film and music
* Go out and find an Irish True bar or pub; forget the green beer and shamrocks on the wall; an Irish True establishment has its own character and way of doing things; there's sense of community and camaraderie and, above all, friendship
* Have a St. Patrick's Day toast at the ready; toasting is a big part of Irish culture; it should speak from the heart and is meant to be shared with those most important to you. So, gather your mates, buy a round of Tullamore Dew and use this toast for St. Patrick's Day.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.PeterNY | Mar 17, 2012, 10:41 PM EDT
We Americans love the Irish for all they have done for us as a nation. We celebrate that more than the day a saint died. Happy Saint Patricks Day!! Have a pint and put it on Murph's tab.
MCCOLGAN1492 | Mar 17, 2012, 06:49 PM EDT
Sir Peter, the shame of it is, you are right about the current young people in America not knowing who their "daddys" are. However, it is a sad fact that is related to our culture and lack of respect for the family unit. Two values that Catholicism (for all its flaws) and most religions promote. We can joke about it but when you see the effect up close and personal it is heartbreaking!
MCCOLGAN1492 | Mar 17, 2012, 06:33 PM EDT
BTW-King Georgie the Wacker-----Who created riverdance--two Americans??? You a a first class Wacker!!
MCCOLGAN1492 | Mar 17, 2012, 06:26 PM EDT
King Georgie the Wacker-- The Wanna-be...... Funny thing is no one wants him..... to quote another blogger, he is a shame to the Americans......
PeterNY | Mar 16, 2012, 11:00 PM EDT
If it were not for St. Patricks Day, most Americans and for that matter most other nations would not care about what St. Patrick did when he was in Ireland. Tread lightly on the Americans, they have bailed out your pathetic economy by accepting your huddled masses for over 150 years now and are always willing to do so again.
CitizenWhy | Mar 16, 2012, 05:16 PM EDT
And very few Americans know that in the Santeria/VooDoo cults/religions St. Patrick represents the chief of the gods.
wolfcarnahan | Mar 16, 2012, 04:28 PM EDT
Mr. MacGregor needs to do some homework about his ancestry, but that's not what this is about. It may be true that 1/2 of Irish-Americans don't know Padraigh is the Patron Saint of Ireland, but neither do they know that if it wasn't for him, Ireland would never have had the religious wars that plagued her for so long. I wear black, that day.
sirpeter | Mar 05, 2012, 06:10 PM EST
Yup!!Ciaradexy is right.Though I have to say I had to Google the word because it does sound plausible that it was related to the garbled tones of a West Brit.
ciaradexy | Mar 05, 2012, 02:30 PM EST
IrelandNorth, I suggest you google the term instead of doing a Georgie by making up a new meaning for a word thats around long before the term West Brit was coined. Whats with the sudden racism towards Europeans?
IrelandNorth | Mar 05, 2012, 08:13 AM EST
ciara[po]xy! Wrong again. "Oirish" is a term that was coined to describe pretentious, middle-class, Trinity educated, west-Brit twits from south Dublin to describe the garbled tones with which they desperatedly try to ape their grandparents former colonial paymasters. Now we have a new phenomenon, a plastic-Patricia who thinks she's Irish but is in fact a post-colonial, historically revised, culturally illiterate clone who is a byproduct of a mongrelised race of people courtesy of the European Union.
MacGregor | Mar 04, 2012, 03:27 AM EST
“We have 11 pipes and drum bands" Why do Irish-Americans continue to promote Scottish culture as being Irish? Are you guys that out of touch with your own unique culture? And please, do not embarrass yourself by claiming that Highland culture is originally Irish, or that the Scottish people came from Ireland - you couldn't be more wrong
AMWilson | Mar 04, 2012, 12:27 AM EST
Half of Americans couldn't tell you who's the President of the US, let alone where Ireland is on a map. I like how Tullamore Dew sets out to quantify American ignorance... go get 'em boys! Your whiskey's ok, but it's no Bushmills "10" or Knappogue Castle.
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 03:43 PM EST
Here George Dildo, Im heading out now for a bitta Diddley aye with some real Irish people so enjoy Fox news and your George Bush shrine to all things religious and anti-the rest of the world. Good night.
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 03:36 PM EST
If youre going to use an Irish slang term, use it correctly- "Oirish" is a term coined by amused Irish natives to describe anything associated with the tourist cult of Ireland that paints it as the land of shamrocks, blarney stones, leprechauns, and Guinness. It can also be used to describe anyone who despite many generations in the new world and questionable Irish ancestry constantly proclaims themselves to be Irish. This can range from an innocent baseball cap with a shamrock on it to a drunken twit in a kilt idiotically greeting everyone with a faux accented "top o' the mornin' to yah laddie". OR ''fake irish, plastic paddy good way of describing Irish Americans''. Now that youve managed to read, youll see that the term cannot be applied to Irish people so stop making yourself look even more like a think American than you are.
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 03:33 PM EST
Oi thicko George Dildo! We are well aware that Flatley and Butler are yanks! Well aware thanks! While Flatley was doing his brest to try and make people think he was irish, my younger cousins were Irish dancing. How many Irish people do you actually know? Seeing as you like to generalise so much about us. So how many do you actually know and interact with on a daily basis? Now chatting to someone walking a red setter in the park when youre out dogging doesnt count. I love how you use the term 'intellegent readers''. Most people on here are American who have never ever even visited Ireland and yet theyre just like you! They post on this site about issues, people and a country they know NOTHING of! Youre an ignoramous Georgie! You havent a clue. Imagine I came on here and kept posting that Americans were dumb. ALL AMERICANS ARE RED NECK HICKS WHO ARE IGNORANT TO WHAT GOES ON OUTSIDE THE US. THE US IS A COUNTRY FULL OF INBREDS WHO OPEN FIRE ON EACH OTHER IN SCHOOL, THEY MAKE THEIR KIDS RUN NAKED THROUGH THE SNOW AND THEY MAKE THEIR LITTLE GIRLS RUN TILL THEYRE DEAD ALL FOR EATING A BAR OF CHOCOLATE. AMERICANS ARE FAT, VILE, NASTY, BIGOTED,RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS WHO THINK THE US CAN DO NO WRONG. AMERICANS VOTE FOR PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR RELIGION RATHER THAN WHAT THEY MAY BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE. Sad, isnt it.
GeorgeDillon | Mar 03, 2012, 03:10 PM EST
Occassio: Good, rational answer, but probably wasted on that poster and other Oirish loudmouths like him.
GeorgeDillon | Mar 03, 2012, 03:09 PM EST
The two curs, curdexter and curpeter, appear to think that Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, the people who revived Irish dancing, and made the Oirish respect it rather than sneer at it, the Dopey Duo seem to think that Butler and Flatley are Irish. They're not Oirish, you dolts, they're Americans. It was AMERICANS who made the Plastic Oirish respect Irish dancing! The Oirish themselves were ashamed of it. And if intelligent readers (we'll leave aside the Dunce Duo) want evidence that this hasn't changed, just check out how much Irish music you'll see on the Dublin St Patrick's Day parade this year. Zilch.
occassio | Mar 03, 2012, 03:00 PM EST
Dear bensi21, I beg to differ regarding your statement re “dumb Americans”. I am an American, an African-American. I know who Saint Patrick was, where Ireland is, who Brian Boru was, when the dreadful Sassenach invaded, 1798, Charles Stuart Parnell, et. al. Please don't paint all of us with the same dumb brush. Oh, and I do know who my father was.
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 01:55 PM EST
Gaelphoncán, not every Irish person knows who their parents are thanks to the church who forced them to give up their babies back in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and in some cases selling them to wealthy Americans.
Gaelphoncán | Mar 03, 2012, 12:40 PM EST
"In all fairness half of Americans are unaware who their father is.lol" You're some craic, a Pheadairín, a dhiúlaigh; a right gas man. You should be on the stage doing stand-up, boy, and you should count your blessings that you were born and bred in holy Catholic Ireland, a paragon of sexual virtue, where every feen and and every byore knows exactly who his or her father is (especially in Cork).
bogsidebunny | Mar 03, 2012, 11:44 AM EST
Heck, Half of all Americans can't speak English. By the way does anyone know the who the Patron Saint of Estonia is without Googling it? Too many Irish-Americans believe the universe revolves around the "Auld Sod"!
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 10:04 AM EST
Michellus, Im with you on the Brehan law! Bring it back! Catholicism ruined womens lives here.
mlchellus | Mar 03, 2012, 09:53 AM EST
..Now I have a glimpse at why my daily work has to continue. If St Patrick isn't part of the knowledge base....then these 'Irish Diaspora'(loosely defined) probably believe the Irish died from lack of a potato - 1845-1850 - while Ireland produced 2X the foods to feed. all of Ireland. FB site: Irish Holocaust - Push to Educate the facts. FYI: Drop Kick Murphy's, the band, is named after an Irish drunk tank in Acton, Massachusetts. Murphy was a podiatrist who owned a farm and if you had enough money and were Irish, your family member would be picked up by two burly men and taken there to dry out. The stereotype continues. An FYI - probably not known by most Irish Brehan Law was the first written law ever...and the basis of the Magna Carte. St Patrick was the conduit for gathering the judges and having the laws written in the 5th century. Look up Brehan Law on Wikipedia..Amazing how advanced Irish society was.
ciaradexy | Mar 03, 2012, 09:03 AM EST
Georgie, if you were even a tenth as Irish as you think you are then youd realise that the term 'Diddly aye' is not a derogatory term. I went to a diddly ay session myself last night with real live Irish people! Most of my friends and family did Irish dancing in school and in fact, I can still play a pretty decent version of the Lonesome Boatman on the tin whistle so I live Irish culture in Ireland and I also have the benefit of experiencing the life of a real Irish person unlike yourself who still seems to live the life of a Neanderthal who wishes thats how the irish should be, bless your ignorance you poor poor man! Your ignorance is kinda pathetic and I can only assume that it stems from your jealousy of not being Irish or even from Ireland. You should probably try to improve the preconceived notions that Irish people have of Americans with Irish grannys etc instead of trying to pass yourself off as Irish.
sirpeter | Mar 03, 2012, 07:04 AM EST
George De-Loon where did you hear the Irish abandoned Irish dancing? Don't be so stupid.Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann has branches all over Ireland.As a matter of fact it has hundreds of branches all over the world.If some people want to sneer at traditional dance and music that's their own business.Ignorance is not in short supply anywhere.But that doesn't stop me listening and appreciating Irish traditional music and American traditional music or even Cajun music.Let them call it diddly-die music if they want.These musical and dance traditions have stood the test of time.And they will be around long after some of the sh*te that goes for music these days.Btw.Your thinking is flawed and stupid as per usual.The Irish band U2 has it's roots in popular American Jazz.They have been the biggest band worldwide in the last 30 years.I guess it took foreigners to show Americans how to do it for them too!!George De-Loon your buffoonism knows no bounds on this site.
GeorgeDillon | Mar 03, 2012, 02:29 AM EST
Its's iromic, but not surprsiing, that curpeter has to citeRiverdance to show how strong Irish culture is. But remember! The Irish had pretty much abandoned Irish dancing before Riverdance made it fashionable. They sneered at it (we even still see the poster curdexter sneeering at it, calling it diddly-die). Riverdance was implemented by two AMERICANS, Flatley and Butler. Rather than show how the Irish maintain their culture, it shows the very opposite--they have to get foreigners to do it for them!
sirpeter | Mar 03, 2012, 12:13 AM EST
@Springfield9.Don't let my comment below sour our relationship.I really liked your butchers apron comment on the commonwealth article.I'm just adjusting your perception a bit on Ireland.All culture develops.You don't see the Japs selling their culture as worldwide as we Irish did with Riverdance.No cultural heartbreak there.
sirpeter | Mar 02, 2012, 11:19 PM EST
Springfield9.Will you stop!! It takes more than trinket manufacturers to kill a culture.We know who we are.We have plenty of things unique only to Ireland.What are you looking for?Everyone living in thatched cottages?If that's the case when I go to New York I want to see ye all in log cabins and dressed in beverskins.Tell the redskins to get back into the teepees too.I don't want to see traffic lights and freed blacks.I want to see American culture.The wild west.YEE-HAW!!Ye need to work on that.We are not an amusement park for Irish Americans at all.In one way I'm delighted you are so fond of Ireland and in another way I want to beat you around the place.That's part of Irish culture in a big way when people annoy us too much.Lucky you won't see me in Crosshaven yacht club Sunday.I never fancied an Irish curragh.
Springfield9 | Mar 02, 2012, 10:28 PM EST
Americans are not that familiar with Patron Saints or Feast Days, etc. Hence I am not surprised. I think that many are confused by the dual nature of March 17th. While it is the Feast Day of the Patron Saint of Ireland, it is also a day when, for hundreds of years the Irish splashed around the world took one day to be a single race. In America the first St Patricks day was in the mid-18th Century and it was celebrated by Irish soldiers in the British Army. Obviously it went on from there. In the sense of an unconditional fellowship, it is a beautiful thing. The demonstrated commercialism and abuse by trinket manufacturers is a terrible shame. I was recently in Ireland and asked a resident of a small town in County Clare if he felt that Irish culture was being preserved. He answered "no". What a heartbreak answer. The Japanese under the Meiji emperor were scrambling to become "European" but the Emperor insisted that the people never forget who they are. We need some work there.
sirpeter | Mar 02, 2012, 08:02 PM EST
In all fairness half of Americans are unaware who their father is.lol
Seanmor | Mar 02, 2012, 07:52 PM EST
There is another very important aspect od St. Patrick's connection with Ireland that increasing numbers seem to be unaware of. Patrick is the patron saint of All-Ireland(an tír ulie agus gach roinn di). Since Southern politicians have highjacked the name of that nation and apply it only to the part of the country which they misgovern, the world media have led their readers and listeners to believe that Ireland's Northern region is a natural intergral of G.B. Patrick establishes the principal see in Armagh, a city which is considered the H.Q. of all Christian denominations in Ireland. St. Patrick's sainthood and Irishness apply to All-Ireland, not merely to the territory formerly known as the Irish Free State.
bensi21 | Mar 02, 2012, 04:42 PM EST
What do u expect from the americans? Americans are a bunch of morons. Ask them where is Ireland and 90% won't know where it is?
Greendays | Mar 02, 2012, 03:34 PM EST
...and it was all down hill from there. as for irish monks saving european civilization, that too is questionable. what they helped to do was to spread the myths, legends and history of Isreal and then some. Which inspired my recitaln of, "a heretic in king arthur's court moons merlin on st. patrick's day" from "the mistletoe tao..." but with that said "Happy St. Pat's"
chengisk | Mar 02, 2012, 02:21 PM EST
What do ya all mean by "Why should they know?" Of course to win some money on Jeopardy. : )
OldMariner | Mar 02, 2012, 02:16 PM EST
So what! Echoing what was said below, the majority of young Americans can not answer basic American civic or historical questions. This is more disconcerting than not knowing who is the patron saint of Ireland.
ciaradexy | Mar 02, 2012, 01:50 PM EST
So what? Why should anyone care about this?
coolock5 | Mar 02, 2012, 01:45 PM EST
Why should they care? How many Irish citizens know the patron saint of Spain or Germany or anywhere else??
Murph46 | Mar 02, 2012, 12:51 PM EST
As American,I have no clue what the tune is Nicoletta with 12 years of catholic school!
chengisk | Mar 02, 2012, 11:37 AM EST
Only half ? More than half does not know their own pledge or properly sing the national anthem. If half of them knew Ireland's patron saint I would say they've sure become brainy.
OleSarge | Mar 02, 2012, 11:32 AM EST
56 years ago when I started Catholic school they didn't teach about St Patrick. Why are you surprised that Americans after 100 years of liberal, socialist, progressive rule don't know anything about their heritage?
Nicoletta | Mar 02, 2012, 11:19 AM EST
You cannot celebrate the true meaning of St Patrick's Day without going to Mass and singing 'Hail Glorious St Patrick.' I have yet to hear it sung here in the US, though I never miss day on this day.
Murph46 | Mar 02, 2012, 11:04 AM EST
Why the surprise with American population being about 12% Irish ,you probably interviewed more Lithuaniaians than Irish!
jamieLM | Mar 02, 2012, 10:07 AM EST
GeorgeDillon makes a good point. Btw: Not all Americans are Catholic or of Irish descent. St. Patrick's life isn't taught in the public schools and he's not an American historical figure, so it's not as if many people feel they need to know all that much about him.
goodgran | Mar 02, 2012, 10:06 AM EST
I think it is just one more attempt to make Americans look foolish. Personally I could have answered all their questions correctly, but I wasn't asked. I've never heard of Tullamore Dew. I don't imbibe.
GeorgeDillon | Mar 02, 2012, 09:46 AM EST
I'd say a similar proportion of the Irish in Ireland would be just as ignorant. And if you throw in the foreign migrants in Ireland, who pretty invariably have no interest in Irish history, language or culture, you'd find a clear majority on the island of Ireland is just as ignorant of St Patrick's Day. The difference is--why should Americans know or care more than the Irish themselves?
jamieLM | Mar 02, 2012, 09:37 AM EST
2,000 Americans out of a pop. of over 300 million? Did the people surveyed have any Irish ancestry or even know if they had any Irish ancestry? How many of these Americans were over 40? over 50? over 60? Still, I'm not surprised at the results of this very limited survey. I'm sorry to say that there are Americans who wouldn't know jack-squat (or even care) about St. Patrick even if he were the patron saint of the U.S., unless he'd been a sexy pop star in his time.
lad1912 | Mar 02, 2012, 09:18 AM EST
Oh please - half of Americans couldn't tell you who the Vice President is or the Prime Minister of Canada - because they don't care about world events - sad but true
antoman | Mar 02, 2012, 08:14 AM EST
"A new study commissioned by Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey showed that 51 percent of Americans were stumped when asked about the true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day". I'm not surprised. If I drank a bottle of Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey I could'nt tell you who was the patron saint of Ireland myself.