On March 17, school hallways turn into a sea of green. Shamrocks hang on classroom doors, and history teachers squeeze quick Saint Patrick’s Day lessons into their schedules. Along with the decorations come the same familiar stories: Saint Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland, wearing green keeps you from getting pinched by the leprechaun and corned beef is a traditional Saint Patrick’s Day dish. The stories we hear every time on this exact date find us asking an important question: how much of what we celebrate is actually true?

At the center of the holiday is Saint Patrick himself. Despite being Ireland’s patron saint, many people are unaware that he’s not even Irish by birth. The real story begins when Saint Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and forced into slavery in Ireland. After his escape, he returned to Scotland as a missionary. Because of his work spreading Christianity, he eventually became known as Ireland’s patron saint, which led many people to mistakenly assume he was Irish from the start.

One of the most famous legends surrounding Saint Patrick is the story that he drove snakes out of Ireland. While it is true that the Emerald Isle is snake-free, science offers a less dramatic explanation. Ireland has likely been snake-free since the end of the last Ice Age. When the glaciers covered much of the island, the cold climate made it impossible for snakes to survive or migrate there. Saint Patrick didn’t chase the snakes away; instead, they probably never lived in Ireland in the first place.

Another common myth involves wearing green. Many people wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day to avoid getting “pinched,” but historically, green was not the color most associated with Saint Patrick. What was actually used was blue, seen on ancient Irish flags and on uniforms the Irish special forces wear on the holiday today. The shift to green developed later, and was created by Irish old folk, spreading the tale that evil fairies or “The Good People” would steal people away, especially children, if they weren’t wearing green. Wearing green was believed to help people blend in, avoid being noticed, and be respectful, so you wouldn’t be attention seeking.

Food traditions tied to Saint Patrick’s Day also have surprising histories along with common misconceptions. In the United States and Canada, savored plates of corned beef and cabbage are often considered the traditional Saint Patrick’s Day meal, but is it really? In Ireland, the more common traditional dish was a type of bacon similar to ham called proper bacon. During the 19th century, Irish immigrants who sailed into New York City found that corned beef was cheaper and easier to find than pork. Often purchased from Jewish butchers in their neighborhoods, the meal gradually became a staple of Irish celebrations. Corned beef isn’t a traditional Irish dish; however, it has been more widely available on the Emerald Isle.

Even the annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade didn’t originally start in Ireland. Instead, the large parade began in Manhattan. For ages, citizens of Ireland marked the day of celebration as a mainly religious event, wearing green and attending mass. There was no massive parade like the ones found in American cities like New York, Boston and Chicago. The first recorded true parade took place in 1766 in New York, where local military units, as well as the Irish soldiers in the British army, marched at dawn from house to house of the leading Irish citizens of the city.

Saint Patrick’s Day remains a fun and exciting celebration of Irish culture around the world. Looking beyond the myths makes the holiday even more meaningful and interesting. So whether the snakes were real or the corned beef was authentic, the holiday still succeeds in bringing people together, intertwining myths and food into a tradition that continues to draw crowds year after year to celebrate.