St Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland
St Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland
By the early fifth century the Roman Empire was on the point of collapse, the Dark Ages were about to descend upon Western Europe, and extant records about the lives of saints, or anything else, are thin on the ground. Nevertheless, one character of whom we know a little, and dating from this period, is Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. The exact dates of his birth and death are disputed, but one dating puts them in 390 and 461 respectively. Since the 1940's it has generally become scholarly orthodoxy that much of what had been accepted as authentic in Patrick's life story is, in fact, a conflation of two saintly biographies - those Patrick and a saint called Palladius. Also to be taken into account are thee exagerated claims which were later made for him by prelates with political motives. For instance, he certainly didn't convert Ireland to Christianity more or less single handedly. Most of the accepted details of Patrick's life are now drawn from the writings of the saint himself.
Patrick was born somewhere in the western half of what later became Britain. (In the fifth century Britain was a collection of minor fiefdoms without any central government). Patrick was the son of a deacon, and he had a priest as his grandfather. Whilst still in his youth he was captured by Irish pirates, and taken to Ireland where he was sold as a slave. Patrick spent six years as a slave, mostly tending his master's herds. During this period that he became a Christian; gradually abandoned the paganism he had previously embraced.
After six years in captivity he supposedly had a dream, in which he was told that he would soon escape his captivity, and that a ship was waiting to take him back to his homeland. Subsequently he decamped from his master, and returned to his family. He made his way to the Irish coast, from whence he was able to persuade some sailors to take him with them when they sailed for Britain.
He is reputed to have arrived back in Britain a changed man. Deciding to train for the priesthood, he acquired a basic knowledge of Latin; although the style of his Latin is today regarded as inelegant at best. After another dream, resembling one which the New Testament records St Paul as once having, Patrick decided to return to Ireland. He there ordained priests, and encouraged many people to become monks and nuns. Limerick and Armagh are both put forward as places where he spent much of his time. As in Britain, paganism was still widely embraced amongst the Irish population in the fifth century, and Patrick was much concerned to bring it to an end - although without the more forceful methods employed by the Church in later centuries. Not that much more is known about the Patrick of history, rather than of legend; even the place of his burial is unknown. Many locations lay claim to him, including Glastonbury in England. The currently accepted date of his death is 461.
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