12 facts about St Patrick's Day you probably did not know

So who was the fantastic priest whose death anniversary is celebrated worldwide and what led to the unusual traditions? By the seventh century he had become a patron saint of Ireland, and the foundations of Irish Christianity were attributed largely to him. He escaped from captivity and returned to Britain, where he was spoken to by a voice which he believed was God's.

Unbeknownst to many, St. Patrick is not Irish.

However, while the color may not have always represented the holiday, most of the world is still seeing green on St. Patrick's Day.

Five-thousand people partied at the Dublin Pub last year, and this year they are expecting 6,000 to fill the restaurant and an enormous outside tent in the two day celebration. Her mother would make her green eggs and ham for breakfast when she was a child.

But on St. Patrick's Day, pubs and bars in the US play a central role in celebrating the day.

First I wanted to find out why we wear green on the big day.

The shamrock, an unofficial symbol of Ireland and Boston, Massachusetts, is a three-leafed young white clover.

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"Patrick's "real" (i.e. Brythonic) name was Maewyn Succat, or in Latin, Magonus Succetus", reveals Giraffe Childcare and Early Learning, citing Irish legend, in a recent educational infographic it created for the holiday.

So have fun on St. Patrick's Day, but stay safe.

Popular Irish toasts on St Patrick's Day, include: "may the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out".

Since then, the unique traditions of St. Patrick's Day have drawn in the Irish and the Irish-at-heart.

St. Patrick is inextricably linked to Ireland, but he's also the patron saint of Nigeria and Montserrat, the tiny Caribbean British Overseas Territory to which many Irish people were sent to work as servants by the English in the 1600s.

The day is especially good for the storied but floundering beer brand Guinness, owned by the booze conglomerate Diageo, which estimates that on St. Patrick's Day roughly twice as much of its product is imbibed than on other days.

The programme will be broadcast live by Irish TV from 3-7pm (GMT) on March 17 on Sky 191, Freesat 400, eVision 191, all free-to-air boxes and online at www.irishtv.com.