I did some research. St. Patrick despised the color green. It reminded him of the pagan Druids, who were a torment to Patrick. Not only did the Druids not believe in Patrick’s god, they used to sit in their sacred oak trees, giggling, and pelt him with acorns while he was badgering villagers into becoming Christians. Patrick grew to associate the color green of the oak tree leaves with the nasty Druids.
St. Patrick preferred the color mauve – which was the color of the socks god wore most often back in the fifth century. When the Ministry of Public Relations in Ireland’s government decided to promote St. Patrick’s Day as a feel good Irish celebration, they chose green instead of mauve for the official color of the day because most Irish people could not pull off the color mauve without looking a bit fruity. And, frankly, mauve beer is repulsive. It looks like a runny beef stroganoff sauce gone bad.
