Q 01/05

On what date is St. Patrick's Day traditionally celebrated each year?

A) March 1

B) March 7

C) March 17

D) March 25

Answer · why

C) March 17

March 17: the feast entered the Catholic Church's universal calendar in the early 1600s, and Irish communities abroad had kept the date as a national ...

Q 02/05

Which country is credited as the origin of St. Patrick's Day as a religious feast day?

A) England

B) Ireland

C) Scotland

D) Wales

Answer · why

B) Ireland

Ireland: the Irish church kept 17 March as Patrick's feast from around the ninth or tenth century, long before the day became a secular celebration ab...

Q 03/05

St Patrick's Day parades began on which continent in the 18th century, more than a century before Ireland's first in 1903?

A) North America

B) Europe

C) Australia

D) South America

Answer · why

A) North America

North America beat Ireland to the parade by more than a century: Ireland's first St Patrick's Day parade was held in Waterford only in 1903.

Q 04/05

St Patrick's Day always falls inside which Christian season of fasting?

A) Advent

B) Epiphany

C) Lent

D) Pentecost

Answer · why

C) Lent

Lent: Ash Wednesday is never later than 10 March and Easter never earlier than 22 March, so 17 March always lands inside the fast, and the feast day's...

Q 05/05

According to legend, what creatures did St. Patrick famously banish from Ireland?

A) Wolves

B) Dragons

C) Snakes

D) Bears

Answer · why

C) Snakes

Snakes: Ireland never had any, as the Roman writer Solinus noted in the third century; the earliest text crediting Patrick with banishing them dates o...