St Patrick's Day 2008: Moved to March 15

Hey- did you know that St Patrick's Day is a Catholic holiday? I know, all that beer drinking and leprechaun stuff probably made you forget that it was, in fact, named after a saint. As such, there's some flexibility about when such holidays are celebrated. This year, St. Patrick's day is actually March 15 instead of March 17 because the date conflicted with Holy Week. I'm not even making this shit up; you can read it here.

While religious celebrations honoring St. Patrick are affected, religious and secular authorities stressed this would not change secular festivities. The St. Patrick's Festival Committee in Dublin confirmed that next year's parade would be March 17 as usual. In addition, Monday, March 17, will remain an official day off of work in Ireland.

This marks the first time the date has been changed since 1940. The next conflict with Holy Week is not expected until 2160.

Confused? Well, just make sure to have your fill of Guinness all week long and you'll be just fine.

Also, there's an online petition to declare St. Patrick's Day a national holiday. You can sign it here. (must be 21)