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Community Corner

The Secrets of St. Patrick's Day

Celebrating Rosemount's rich heritage on St. Patrick's Day.

Each year millions of people participate in the truest of green holiday’s: St.Patrick's Day. Being that Rosemount is littered with titles such as “Celts”, “Leprechaun”, “Shennanigan’s”and “Shamrock”, you know that you’ve hit the pot of gold for a city full of rich, Irish heritage. But to understand our celebration of today it might be of interest to look to the past.

St. Patrick was born in the British Isles near Scotland under the name Maewyn Succat and at sixteen was seized by raiders and taken to Ireland to be a slave. Through his ordeals he became closer to God and eventually escaped only to be called through his faith back to Ireland to help convert pagans to Christianity. It has been said that he used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people and now is a symbol of luck.

As for the legend of saving the people by driving out snakes, evidence has suggested there were no snakes at that time and it may have been a reference to the Druids that ruled at that time. He died on March 17.  Hence the date of homage to him. From there it has grown to be a more secular holiday that includes all the great Irish stories and customs but still includes building community.

Rosemount has been named after a town in Ireland of the same name, and although unverified it is said that Andrew Keegan and early settler and the first postmaster of Rosemount, MN came from there.  Two great places to read up on our history are: the City of Rosemount’s website and the Rosemount Area Historical Society’s web site.

As for the custom of the corned beef and cabbage with a green beer to boot, these locals will deliver not only the goods but a party and good times to go with it: Shennanigan’s Pub & Celts .  

So celebrate, be safe, and may the luck of the Irish be with you.

UPDATE: The Census Bureau just shared a number of fun St. Patrick's Day facts, and here are some of the highlights:

26.1 Billion and 2.3 Billion
U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2009. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

9
Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. Since the 2000 Census, Dublin, Calif., has surpassed Dublin, Ohio, as the most populous of these places (44,541 compared with 39,310, respectively, as of July 1, 2009).

4
The number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,828 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 152 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 122. (Statistic for Mount Gay-Shamrock is from the 2000 Census; the other statistics are 2009 estimates.)

70%
Percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they live, with the remainder renting. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate was 66 percent.
Source: 2009 American Community Survey

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