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No one likes to be pinched. And on one day each year, we don green to prevent the act – have you ever wondered why?

Certain traditions, such as wearing green and eating corn beef and cabbage, have become common on March 17. But from whence did these traditions come? Did the patron saint really expel all the snakes from the island? Who was St. Patrick – the man, the myth, the legend?

Patrick P. O’Neill, Ph.D., professor of English and Irish literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is available to describe myths, origins and facts about the March 17 holiday and the saint himself.

“I’m happy to talk about my namesake,” said O’Neill who completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at University College in Dublin.

At UNC, O’Neill specializes in old and middle English and Irish as well as medieval Welsh. For more than 17 years, O’Neill has been a research associate at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Celtic Studies.

Note: O’Neill reached at (919) 962-4025 or pponeill@email.unc.edu through March 5. After March 5, O’Neill will only be available via pponeill@email.unc.edu.

News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) (919) 962-2091

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