The soldiers of Saint Patrick’s Battalion are regarded as national heroes in Mexico and Ireland. M arch 17 is, of course, St.

The first St. Patrick's Day parade currently on record was held in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1601, historians say. Not, as some might assume, on the Emerald Isle.

St. Patrick’s Battalion, a unit of the Mexican Army, was composed mainly of Irish Catholic immigrants who deserted the U.S. Army and fled to Mexico during the war, which lasted from 1846-48.