St George’s Day on April 23 may be seen as a day of celebration in England, but a quarter of English citizens don’t know who their patron saint is. New research, conducted by Paddy Power Games, studied knowledge of the patron saints, revealing that it’s the English that are the most ill-informed, with 25% not knowing who St George is.
Despite a chunk of the nation failing to grasp the meaning behind the national day, more than a fifth of those in England still choose to mark St George’s Day in their calendars.
And it turns out that it’s the people of Leicester that are the most patriotic (or most eager to go to the pub), with 33% saying they celebrate the saint – significantly more than the national average (21%).
Residents in Manchester and Birmingham complete the top three for the largest quantity of people celebrating in UK cities – with 29% and 28% respectively.
The research also revealed that only 16% of people in Brighton celebrate St George’s Day, making the seaside town the least enthusiastic – and they’re even more likely to mark Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day instead (20%).
In fact, over a quarter (26%) of English people reveal that they celebrate the Irish saint’s day – almost 3.5 million more than people who are celebrating St George’s Day.
The data dived into whether people in varying age groups have different awareness around patron saints, revealing that two in five (41%) Gen Zers – aged 18-24 – have no clue who their patron saint is, compared to only 9% of people 55 and over.
A spokesperson for Paddy Power Games, said: “With a quarter of English people not knowing their own patron saint, we’re expecting a pretty quiet affair this St George’s Day.
"As an Irish brand St Patrick is our man, and it seems like he wins the popularity contest across the water too."
St George is a Christian saint who is widely recognized as the patron saint of England, as well as several other countries and regions, including Portugal, Catalonia, and the island of Gozo. According to legend, St George was a Roman soldier who lived in the third century and was martyred for his Christian faith.
The most famous legend associated with St George is the story of him slaying a dragon, which was terrorizing a town and demanding human sacrifices. According to the legend, St George rode his horse into the town and fought the dragon, eventually slaying it and saving the town from destruction.
St George's Day is celebrated in England on April 23, which is believed to be the anniversary of his death. St George is also celebrated in other countries on different dates throughout the year.
