The original color associated with St. Patrick is blue, not green as commonly believed. In several artworks depicting the saint, he is shown wearing blue vestments. King Henry VIII used the Irish harp in gold on a blue flag to represent the country. Since that time, and possibly before, blue has been a popular color to represent the country...Green was associated with the country later, presumably because of the greenness of the countryside, which is so because Ireland receives plentiful rainfall.
--http://www.catholic.org/news/saints/story.php?id=45045
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Additional thoughts and ramblings:
With grandfather being 100% Irish, we always celebrated St Patrick's Day in our household when I was growing up. Leprechauns would leave little green mint candies (Andes Mints) in a shamrock shaped bowl which was always thrilling to discover. It's pretty hard to miss that green and St Patrick's day go together even if you aren't Irish or religious at all. So it kind of surprised me that green wasn't the color that St Patrick was originally known for. I mean if I had to guess I would have told you that he probably didn't wear green ALL THE TIME. Perhaps just on special occasions, like the rest of us ;-)
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