Who knew that the patron saint of Ireland was actually… British?! Yup, that’s right. Born in Britain in the 4th century, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to a Celtic priest in Northern Ireland. He was just sixteen at the time. Okay, so he wasn’t Irish, but he definitely banished the snakes from Ireland - right? Actually, no. Research suggests snakes never occupied the Emerald Isle, and there are no signs of snakes in the country’s fossil record.

However, St Patrick did work as a Christian missionary, spreading the word of God across the island, and he’s probably partly responsible for the Christianisation of the Picts and Anglo-Saxons. According to Irish legend, St Patrick used the shamrock as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity.