So my students are often surprised when I tell them that St. Patrick’s Day was once a solemn feast day when you’d be far more likely to see the color blue. In fact, there’s even a color ...

In fact, there’s even a color known as St. Patrick’s blue. ‘True blue’ Historians don’t know much about St. Patrick. But they believe he was born in the fifth century as Maewyn Succat.

But any commemorations would include the color blue. The Dublin Evening Post reported that in a 1785 St. Patrick’s Day ceremony in Dublin, a group of men identifying themselves as patriots ...