St Patrick’s Day brings about parades, parties, wearing green and of course the mythical leprechaun and his pot of gold that everyone wishes were real. But some might do better to pay attention to their own coins because St Patrick’s Day is one of the costliest holidays of the year.
The Start of it All
St Patrick’s Day started originally in Ireland as a religious cultural holiday. It takes its name from one of the most common saints of the church, St Patrick. Since those days although it is still observed by Ireland as a religious holiday, it has also transformed into a huge celebration of all things Irish and has become popular around the world. It is often said that on this day everyone is Irish and this saying is certainly true in America.
● Over $3.76 billion has been estimated spent by roughly half of America for St Patrick’s Day.
● Even Ireland adds to the proverbial pot of gold by making over $79 billion in tourism profits by those wanting to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on the shores it originated on.
● Spending is on the rise. In 2011 $33.97 was spent per person on St Patty’s Day up from $33.05
● Males age 24 and over spent on average a bit higher at $42 per person. In any case men usually spend about $10 more than women.
In addition, there are 34.7 million Americans that are actually of Irish descent. That is seven times larger than the entire population of Ireland. (Source) 4.5 million Irish Immigrants came to America from Ireland from 1820-1930.
Irish Food and Pub Culture
Irish food and drink traditions are a big part of the celebration as these numbers reflect.
● One third of Americans celebrating the holiday enjoy a special Irish dinner.
● The most popular food for St Patrick’s Day is corned beef and cabbage. Americans consumed 42.1 billion pounds of beef and 2.6 billion pounds of cabbage in 2006 alone.
● 38 million people go out to eat or drink on this day
● 20% of these people have a drink
● America imports $6.0 billion alcoholic drinks from Ireland with the exception of wine and wine related products.
Parades and Pageantry
The parades are one of the most popular of all of the events of the day. They are held across the nation. The largest of these is the New York City St Patrick’s Day parade.
● The New York Parade has been held for 250 years consecutively.
● The New York Parade does not allow vehicles or floats so 150,000-25,000 participants march on foot in the famous parade.
● There are 100 St. Patrick parades held across the United States.
When Things Go Bad
Frequently things get out of hand and accidents or fights result from too much to drink. A happy time becomes a horrific event marred by jail time, injury and death.
● According to the National Highway Safety Administration 37% of fatal crashes happened in 2009 by those that had .08% or higher alcohol content in their body.
● There were 103 crash fatalities in 2009. Of these 47 involved those drinking at St Patrick Day events.
● Driver under the influence (DUI) fines are very expensive. They can be 10,000 or more. You’ll need more than quick cash for that.
Traditions and Irish Cities
● The capital of Ireland is Dublin. There are 13 places in the US also called Dublin. The largest one is in California with a population of 43,572. The second largest is Dublin, Ohio with 39,310 people.
● The shamrock, also known as a clover was used by the saint, St Patrick to represent the holy trinity since it had three leaves. The leaves stood for the father, son and Holy Spirit of Christianity.
● There is also an anomaly of a four leaf clover which is supposed to bring luck for the finder. The odds of finding one however are 10,000 to 1.
● Every year in Chicago a green dye is used to turn the Chicago River green. It takes 100 lbs. of dye to accomplish the Irish green hue in the water. The city has transformed the river, with the help of leprechauns they say, for 43 years.
Sources:
http://greenchicagoriver.com/story.html
http://www.fastcompany.com/1150170/numbers-behind-st-patricks-day
http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day-facts
http://money.msn.com/auto-insurance/dui-the-10000-dollar-ride-home.aspx
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff03.html
http://www.thequarterroll.com/Trivia/Holidays/saint-patricks-day-financial-trivia-facts
http://blog.minitab.com/blog/real-world-quality-improvement/the-odds-of-finding-a-four-leaf-clover
Simon writes for the financial blog of Poundaccess a UK based quick cash and text loan company.