St. Patty's Day Quiz

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Homeschooling has presented great opportunities for me to learn along with my sons.  I love history, and decided that we would learn more about the history of St. Patrick's Day.

I checked out many library books, read some aloud to the boys and secretly enjoyed reading the rest myself... .shhhh.

I learned a lot about St. Patrick, and I hope you will, too! 

1. St. Patrick's birth name was:
a. Patrick O'Flannigan
b. Patrick Obrien
c. Maewyn Succat
d. Erlyn Serles

2. St. Patrick was born in which country:
a. Ireland
b. Britain
c. France
d. Gaul

3. St. Patrick was a shepherd as a teenager.  How did he learn this trade?
a. His father
b. His grandfather
c. His owner. He was a slave
d. He worked for a neighbor in return for his family's share of wool

4. How did St. Patrick become a priest?
a. He was taken under the wing of his childhood family priest
b. He fled Ireland for France and joined a monestary
c. He was hiding from the authorities after stealing food from a local ruling family
d. He fell in love with a nun and followed her to the Church

5. Which of the following legends of St. Patrick is actually true?
a. He drove all the snakes from Ireland
b. He helped to preserve Roman teaching in Ireland through Catholic education for generations to come, preventing the ignorance that plagued much of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, during the Middle Ages
c. He used the shamrock as a visual aid to teach newly converted Christians about the holy family
d. He joined the Druid priests on a sojourn to Stonehenge in 423 AD in an effort to preach the gospel to the pagans.

6. Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's day with the color green?
a. Ireland is the "Green Isle"
b. The shamrock symbol is green
c. The Ireland peasants during the time of St. Patrick would burn the green leaves & boughs in spring to spread into their gardens to improve the soil
d. Because we love green beer - it's just a commercial gimmick invented by Budweiser to boost sales during the St. Patrick's Day festivities

NOW..... the answers:  (no peeking until you've answered the questions!)

1.  c. Maewyn Succat was St. Patrick's birth name.

2. b. St. Patrick was born in Great Britain, not Ireland.

3. c. St. Patrick worked as a shepherd as a slave.  He was taken from Britain by invaders from Ireland when he was 16.  He was taken to Ireland where he was sold to a shepherd and forced into slavery.

4. c. St. Patrick became a priest after fleeing Ireland (running away from his owner) for Gaul (now France).  He joined a monastery after a dangerous journey and pilgrimage across Gaul (where he and his fellow travelers nearly starved to death).

5. b. Many Christian schools were established under his direction.  He preserved the Roman teaching after the fall of the Roman Empire, which didn't happen throughout much of Europe.  Children in Ireland were able to learn to read & write Latin.

6. c.  Yep, it's all about the garden.  I'll bet you thought I made that answer up, didn't you?!? 

Happy St. Patty's Day!  Hope you enjoyed learning more about the holiday.  I'm part Irish, my mother's family came over during the potato famine, so I enjoy celebrating and teaching my sons about it.  I plan on cooking lots of potatoes to celebrate with my kids.  My husband brewed a batch of "Dry Irish Stout" to be ready in celebration, so hopefully this weekend we'll pop one open and enjoy!!