Last year, members of Congress introduced a bill to make St. Patrick\u2019s Day the 12th federally recognized holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, half of all U.S. presidents trace their family lineages back to Ireland, and roughly one in ten Americans claim Irish ancestry, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the bill, now being considered by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, has a long way to go before becoming law, it speaks to the shared history of the peoples of the U.S. and Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
St. Patrick\u2019s Day honors the patron saint of Ireland who is credited with spreading Christianity throughout the country and is said to have died on March 17 in the late 5th Century. According to legend, he drove all the snakes away from Ireland and used a three-leaf shamrock to teach the Holy Trinity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t