On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland. Since his death, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover–the famous shamrock–to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. The Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick’s death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. Find Ireland  at the Library, on hoopla and on OverDrive. Find Irish music on hoopla and Freegal.

Written on the spot and recorded as an afterthought near the end of a session at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, the song—”Tequila” —hit #1 on the Billboardpop chart on March 17, 1958. It was the Champs’ one, and only, pop hit. Find Tequila on Freegal.