User:Nicknack009/Saint Patrick

My proposed rewrite of the article, in progress

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Irish: Pádraig [ˈpˠaːd̪ˠɾˠəɟ]) was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with Saints Brigit and Columba. He is also venerated in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church, and in the Orthodox Church as Equal-to-the-Apostles and The Enlightener of Ireland.

The dates of Patrick's life cannot be fixed with certainty but, on a widespread interpretation, he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the fifth century. Early medieval tradition credits him with being the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland.

According to the Confessio of Patrick, when he was about 16, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain, and taken as a slave to Ireland, looking after animals, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life he served as a bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick's Day is observed on 17 March, which is said to be the date of his death. It is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation; it is also a celebration of Ireland itself.

Life

Sources and dating

The reputed burial place of St. Patrick in Downpatrick

Two Latin works survive which are generally accepted to have been written by Patrick. These are the Confessio ("Confession" or "Declaration") and the Epistola ("Letter", also known as the "Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus"), from which come the only generally accepted details of his life. Later hagiographies and annals provide further traditions, but modern historians do not accept these as reliable. Some scholars argue that some of these traditions originally concerned Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine I as the first bishop to Irish Christians in 431.

The dates of Patrick's life are uncertain. His own writings provide nothing that can be dated more precisely than the 5th century. His Biblical quotations are a mixture of the Old Latin version and the Vulgate, completed in the early 5th century, suggesting he was writing "at the point of transition from Old Latin to Vulgate", although it is possible the Vulgate readings may have been added later, replacing earlier readings. The Epistola implies that the Franks were still pagans at the time of writing: their conversion to Christianity is dated to the period 496–508.

The Irish annals for the fifth century are not contemporary documents, but were compiled in the mid-6th century at the earliest. The annals date Patrick's arrival in Ireland to 432, but this date was probably artificially chosen to minimise the contribution of Palladius, who was known to have been sent to Ireland in 431, and maximise that of Patrick. A variety of dates are given for his death. In 457 "the elder Patrick" (Irish: Patraic Sen) is said to have died: this may refer to the death of Palladius, who is said in the Book of Armagh to have also been called Patrick. In 461/2 the annals say that "Here some record the repose of Patrick"; in 492/3 they record the death of "Patrick, the arch-apostle (or archbishop and apostle) of the Scoti", on 17 March, at the age of 120.

While some modern historians accept the earlier date of c. 460 for Patrick's death, contemporary scholars of early Irish history tend to prefer the later date of c. 493. Supporting the later date, the annals record that in 553 "the relics of Patrick were placed sixty years after his death in a shrine by Colum Cille" (emphasis added). The death of Patrick's disciple Mochta is dated in the annals to 535 or 537, and the early hagiographies "all bring Patrick into contact with persons whose obits occur at the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the sixth". However, E. A. Thompson argues that none of the dates given for Patrick's death in the Annals is reliable.

Early life

Patrick was born into a Romano-British Christian family of some local standing. He tells us in the Confessio that his father, Calpurnius, was a deacon and his grandfather, Potitus, was a priest. The Epistola adds that Calpurnius was a decurio, a local government official. Hagiography names Patrick's mother as Concessa, a plausible name for a Romano-British woman, but not attested in Patrick's writings.

Calpurnius owned a small estate near a town named in the Confessio as "Bannavem Taberniae". This is widely recognised as corrupt, and is commonly amended to "Bannaventa Berniae", which is linguistically plausible but otherwise unknown. Dumbarton, or the nearby village of Old Kilpatrick, were once popular candidates, but it is now recognised that Scotland had no Roman towns in which decuriones would have held office. De Paor suggests a location near Carlisle; Thomas argues for Birdoswald, twenty miles (32 km) east of Carlisle on Hadrian's Wall; Mac Neill favours a location in South Wales; Thompson suggests somewhere in the West Country; and claims have been advanced for Glannoventa, modern Ravenglass in Cumbria, among others. There is a Roman town known as Bannaventa in Northamptonshire, but this is likely too far from the sea.

Patrick says he did not take his studies or his religion seriously. At the age of about fifteen he committed an unspecified sin, the revelation of which later threatened his mission.

Captivity and escape

At the age of 16, Patrick was abducted from his father's estate and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he herded sheep for six years. He later describes a vision in which the people of a place called Silva Focluti, the Wood of Foclut, beside the Western Sea, implored him to return to them, implying this is where he spent his captivity. A reference in Tirechán's 7th century Collectanea allows us to identify this place as near Killala in County Mayo. Hagiography, by contrast, places his captivity at Slemish in County Antrim, and identifies his master as a petty king called Miliucc moccu Bóin.

Patrick says that in his isolation, he became aware of his lack of faith, and turned to prayer, praying up to a hundred times a day and as many at night. After six years, he had a dream in which a voice told him he would soon return to his own country, and that his ship was ready. He ran away from his master, and walked two hundred miles, arriving at a place where a ship was about to set sail. The captain initially turned him away, but one of the crew called to him to come on board. He refused to prove his friendship by sucking the pagan sailors' nipples, but they decided to trust him anyway.

After three days at sea they landed, and walked through a wilderness for 28 days. On the tenth day of the journey, they ran out of food. The captain challenged Patrick to pray to his God for food. He did so, and soon they came upon a herd of pigs, and later some wild honey. Patrick refused to eat the honey after being told it was consecrated to pagan gods. That night as he slept, Patrick had an experience he interpreted as Satan putting him to the test - it was as if a heavy rock had fallen on him, and he could not move. He called upon "Helias", apparently a confusion of Elias, the Latin name for Elijah, and Helios, the Greek name for the sun, and when the sun rose he felt the weight lifted from him. He writes that he believed Christ had helped him. Patrick associates Christ with the sun elsewhere in the Confessio.

The 17th century historian Geoffrey Keating, citing a Latin hagiography, connects Patrick's capture to the raiding activities of the Irish king Niall of the Nine Hostages. However, Irish raiding was common in late Roman and post-Roman Britain, so it is impossible to be so precise. Flechner suggests an alternative explanation for Patrick's departure to Ireland. As the son of a decurio he would have been obliged to serve on the town council (curia), but chose instead to abscond from the obligations of this office by fleeing abroad, as others in his position had done in what has become known as the "flight of the curiales".

Historians see problems with Patrick's account of his escape. It is not clear whether Patrick's ship landed in Britain or Gaul, or where in either country a wilderness might be found that would take 28 days to cross. Bury suggested they had landed in Gaul at the height of the devastating invasion of the Vandals, Alans and Sueves of 406-409. Thompson rejects this, arguing that the invasion did not affect the north-west of Gaul, where Patrick's ship is most likely to have landed. Flechner draws attention to biblical allusions in Patrick's account which imply that parts of the account may not have been intended to be understood literally.

Return to Britain

It was not for another few years that Patrick was reunited with his parents in Britain. They begged him not to leave them again, but he had a series of dreams which he interpreted as calling him back to Ireland. In one, a man named Victoricus brought him letters from Ireland, and he heard the voice of the people of Silva Focluti imploring him to walk among them once more. A. B. E. Hood suggests that the Victoricus of St. Patrick's vision may be identified with Saint Victricius, bishop of Rouen in the late fourth century, who had visited Britain in an official capacity in 396. Thompson, however, thinks it more likely he was someone Patrick had known in Ireland. In hagiography he becomes an angel, Victor, who during his captivity had delivered the message to Patrick that his ship was ready.

Patrick joined the clergy, but he tells us almost nothing of his Christian education. He refers to his confession of his teenage sin to a friend before he was a deacon, and of the same friend telling him that he had been appointed bishop. He wishes that he could return to Britain, or to go to Gaul to visit "the brothers", from which it may be inferred he received some of his education in Gaul. A saying attributed to Patrick in the Book of Armagh says he had travelled "through Gaul and Italy and the islands of the Tyrrhene Sea", which has led some to suggest he studied at under Honoratus at Lérins Abbey on the island of Saint-Honorat. Hagiography tells us he studied at Auxerre under Amator and his successor Germanus, but this is not attested in Patrick's own writings, and it is possible it comes from the biography of Palladius, who is known to have been instrumental in Germanus' visit to Britain in 429.

Mission in Ireland

The nature and location of Patrick's mission in Ireland is uncertain, as its relationship to the mission of Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine I as first bishop to Irish Christians in 431. Patrick's writings show no sign of any pre-existing Church, but it has been suggested Palladius and Patrick operated in different parts of Ireland.

Patrick says there were those in the Church who opposed his mission, and could not understand why he would put himself in danger among hostile people. He does not deny the danger, crediting God with saving him from twelve threats to his life, and releasing him from imprisonment by people who wanted to kill him. To ensure his safety, he gave gifts to kings, to their sons who travelled with him, and to local judges, and he estimates that he spent no more than the value of 15 persons. But he insists that he accepted no gifts or payments, whether from the clergy he served or from his converts, returning ornaments left on the altar even if this offended the giver.

He says he saw thousands of people baptised, clerics ordained, and sons and daughters of the nobility take holy orders. He shows a particular interest in female converts, whether noble women who faced persecution from their families, or slave women who suffered mistreatment. He wrote the Epistola after a large group of his converts, fresh from baptism, had been attacked by the forces of one Coroticus, and either killed or taken into slavery. He sent a priest, whom he had taught from childhood, to plead for the release of the captives, but he was laughed at. The Epistola is an open letter, excommunicating Coroticus and his men, and imploring Christians not to eat or drink with them until they had released his converts and done suitable penance. Based largely on an eighth-century gloss, Coroticus is taken to be King Ceretic of Alt Clut. Thompson, however, proposed that Coroticus was a Romano-Briton living in Ireland.

The Confessio was written in Patrick's old age, apparently in response to scrutiny from the hierarchy of the British Church following the revelation of his teenage sin, and allegations of financial impropriety. The Confessio is a vehement defence of his activities, insisting on the divine sanction of his mission by way of numerous visions, protesting his financial propriety, and claiming great success in converting numerous people to Christianity. He is saddened by the breach of confidence by his old friend, although he admits the friend had defended him in his absence as he was not in Britain at the time. He says he wishes he could return to Britain, or visit Gaul, but fears that if he were to leave Ireland all his work would be undone.

Name

The only name Patrick uses for himself in his own writings is Latin: Patricius, which gives Old Irish Pátraic, Modern Irish Pádraig ([ˈpˠaːd̪ˠɾˠəɟ]), English Patrick and Welsh Padrig.

Hagiography records other names he is said to have borne. Tírechán's 7th century Collectanea gives: "Magonus, that is, famous; Succetus, that is, god of war; Patricius, that is, father of the citizens; Cothirthiacus, because he served four houses of druids." "Magonus" appears in the 9th century Historia Britonnum as Maun, descending from British *Magunos, meaning "servant-lad". "Succetus", which also appears in Muirchú's 7th century Life as "Sochet", is identified by Mac Neill as "a word of British origin meaning swineherd". "Cothirthiacus" also appears as Cothraige in the 8th century biographical poem known as Fiacc's Hymn and a variety of other spellings elsewhere, and is taken to represent a Primitive Irish *Qatrikias, although this is disputed. Harvey argues that Cothraige "has the form of a classic Old Irish tribal (and therefore place-) name", noting that Ail Coithrigi is a name for the Rock of Cashel, and the place-names Cothrugu and Catrige are attested in Counties Antrim and Carlow.

Seventh-century writings

An early document which is silent concerning Patrick is the letter of Columbanus to Pope Boniface IV of about 613. Columbanus writes that Ireland's Christianity "was first handed to us by you, the successors of the holy apostles", apparently referring to Palladius only, and ignoring Patrick. Writing on the Easter controversy in 632 or 633, Cummian—it is uncertain whether this is the Cummian associated with Clonfert or Cumméne of Iona—does refer to Patrick, calling him our papa, that is pope or primate.

Two works by late seventh-century hagiographers of Patrick have survived. These are the writings of Tírechán, and Vita sancti Patricii of Muirchu moccu Machtheni. Both writers relied upon an earlier work, now lost, the Book of Ultán. This Ultán, probably the same person as Ultan of Ardbraccan, was Tírechán's foster-father. His obituary is given in the Annals of Ulster under the year 657. These works thus date from a century and a half after Patrick's death.

The Patrick portrayed by Tírechán and Muirchu is a martial figure, who contests with druids, overthrows pagan idols, and curses kings and kingdoms. On occasion, their accounts contradict Patrick's own writings: Tírechán states that Patrick accepted gifts from female converts although Patrick himself flatly denies this. However, the emphasis Tírechán and Muirchu placed on female converts, and in particular royal and noble women who became nuns, is thought to be a genuine insight into Patrick's work of conversion. Patrick also worked with the unfree and the poor, encouraging them to vows of monastic chastity. Tírechán's account suggests that many early Patrician churches were combined with nunneries founded by Patrick's noble female converts.

The martial Patrick found in Tírechán and Muirchu, and in later accounts, echoes similar figures found during the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. It may be doubted whether such accounts are an accurate representation of Patrick's time, although such violent events may well have occurred as Christians gained in strength and numbers.

Much of the detail supplied by Tírechán and Muirchu, in particular the churches established by Patrick, and the monasteries founded by his converts, may relate to the situation in the seventh century, when the churches which claimed ties to Patrick, and in particular Armagh, were expanding their influence throughout Ireland in competition with the church of Kildare. In the same period, Wilfred, Archbishop of York, claimed to speak, as metropolitan archbishop, "for all the northern part of Britain and of Ireland" at a council held in Rome in the time of Pope Agatho, thus claiming jurisdiction over the Irish church.

Other presumed early materials include the Irish annals, which contain records from the Chronicle of Ireland. These sources have conflated Palladius and Patrick. Another early document is the so-called First Synod of Saint Patrick. This is a seventh-century document, once, but no longer, taken as to contain a fifth-century original text. It apparently collects the results of several early synods, and represents an era when pagans were still a major force in Ireland. The introduction attributes it to Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus, a claim which "cannot be taken at face value."

Legends

Patrick uses shamrock in an illustrative parable

St. Patrick depicted with shamrock in detail of stained glass window in St. Benin's Church, Kilbennan, County Galway, Ireland

Legend credits St. Patrick with teaching the Irish about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a three-leafed plant, using it to illustrate the Christian teaching of three persons in one God. This story first appears in writing in 1726, though it may be older. The shamrock has since become a central symbol for St Patrick's Day.

In pagan Ireland, three was a significant number and the Irish had many triple deities, a fact that may have aided St Patrick in his evangelisation efforts when he "held up a shamrock and discoursed on the Christian Trinity". Patricia Monaghan says there is no evidence that the shamrock was sacred to the pagan Irish. However, Jack Santino speculates that it may have represented the regenerative powers of nature, and was recast in a Christian context. Icons of St Patrick often depict the saint "with a cross in one hand and a sprig of shamrocks in the other". Roger Homan writes, "We can perhaps see St Patrick drawing upon the visual concept of the triskele when he uses the shamrock to explain the Trinity".

Patrick banishes all snakes from Ireland

The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that they had all been banished by St. Patrick chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. This hagiographic theme draws on the Biblical account of the staff of the prophet Moses. In Exodus 7:8–7:13, Moses and Aaron use their staffs in their struggle with Pharaoh's sorcerers, the staffs of each side morphing into snakes. Aaron's snake-staff prevails by consuming the other snakes.

Image of St. Patrick banishing the snakes

However, all evidence suggests that post-glacial Ireland never had snakes, as on insular "New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica... So far, no serpent has successfully migrated across the open ocean to a new terrestrial home" from Scotland, at one point only some twelve miles from Ireland, where a few native species have lived, "the venomous adder, the grass snake, and the smooth snake", as National Geographic notes; sea snakes exist only in the Pacific and Indian oceans. "At no time has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland, so [there was] nothing for St. Patrick to banish", says naturalist Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, who has searched extensively through Irish fossil collections and records.

Patrick's walking stick grows into a living tree

Some Irish legends involve the Oilliphéist, the Caoránach, and the Copóg Phádraig. During his evangelising journey back to Ireland from his parent's home at Birdoswald, he is understood to have carried with him an ash wood walking stick or staff. He thrust this stick into the ground wherever he was evangelising and at the place now known as Aspatria (ash of Patrick) the message of the dogma took so long to get through to the people there that the stick had taken root by the time he was ready to move on.

Patrick speaks with ancient Irish ancestors

The twelfth-century work Acallam na Senórach tells of Patrick being met by two ancient warriors, Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, during his evangelical travels. The two were once members of Fionn mac Cumhaill's warrior band the Fianna, and somehow survived to Patrick's time. In the work St. Patrick seeks to convert the warriors to Christianity, while they defend their pagan past. The heroic pagan lifestyle of the warriors, of fighting and feasting and living close to nature, is contrasted with the more peaceful, but unheroic and non-sensual life offered by Christianity.

Folk piety

The version of the details of his life generally accepted by modern scholars, as elaborated by later sources, popular writers and folk piety, typically includes extra details such that Patrick, originally named Maewyn Succat, was born in 387 AD in (among other candidate locations, see above) Banna venta Berniae to the parents Calpernius and Conchessa. At the age of 16 in 403 AD Saint Patrick was captured and enslaved by the Irish and was sent to Ireland to serve as a slave herding and tending sheep in Dalriada. During his time in captivity Saint Patrick became fluent in the Irish language and culture. After six years Saint Patrick escaped captivity after hearing a voice urging him to travel to a distant port where a ship would be waiting to take him back to Britain. On his way back to Britain Saint Patrick was captured again and spent 60 days in captivity in Tours, France. During his short captivity within France, Saint Patrick learned about French monasticism. At the end of his second captivity Saint Patrick had a vision of Victoricus giving him the quest of bringing Christianity to Ireland. Following his second captivity Saint Patrick returned to Ireland and, using the knowledge of Irish language and culture that he gained during his first captivity, brought Christianity and monasticism to Ireland in the form of more than 300 churches and over 100,000 Irish baptised.

According to the Annals of the Four Masters, an early-modern compilation of earlier annals, his corpse soon became an object of conflict in the Battle for the Body of St. Patrick.

Saint Patrick's crosses

Main article: List of Saint Patrick's Crosses

Image of St. Patrick showing cross pattée on his robes

There are two main types of crosses associated with St. Patrick, the cross pattée and the saltire. The cross pattée is the more traditional association, while the association with the saltire dates from 1783 and the Order of St. Patrick.

Logo of Down District Council showing the cross pattée

The cross pattée has long been associated with St. Patrick, for reasons that are uncertain. One possible reason is that bishops' mitres in Ecclesiastical heraldry often appear surmounted by a cross pattée. An example of this can be seen on the old crest of the Brothers of St. Patrick. As St. Patrick was the founding bishop of the Irish church, the symbol may have become associated with him. St. Patrick is traditionally portrayed in the vestments of a bishop, and his mitre and garments are often decorated with a cross pattée.

The cross pattée retains its link to St. Patrick to the present day. For example,it appears on the coat of arms of both the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh and the Church of Ireland Archdiocese of Armagh. This is on account of St. Patrick being regarded as the first bishop of the Diocese of Armagh. It is also used by Down District Council which has its headquarters in Downpatrick, the reputed burial place at St. Patrick.

Saint Patrick's Saltire is a red saltire on a white field. It is used in the insignia of the Order of Saint Patrick, established in 1783, and after the Acts of Union 1800 it was combined with the Saint George's Cross of England and the Saint Andrew's Cross of Scotland to form the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. A saltire was intermittently used as a symbol of Ireland from the seventeenth century, but without reference to Saint Patrick.

Traditional St. Patrick's Day badges from the early twentieth century, from the Museum of Country Life, Castlebar

It was formerly a common custom to wear a cross made of paper or ribbon on St Patrick's Day. Surviving examples of such badges come in many colours and they were worn upright rather than as saltires.

Thomas Dinely, an English traveller in Ireland in 1681, remarked that "the Irish of all stations and condicõns were crosses in their hatts, some of pins, some of green ribbon." Jonathan Swift, writing to "Stella" of Saint Patrick's Day 1713, said "the Mall was so full of crosses that I thought all the world was Irish". In the 1740s, the badges pinned were multicoloured interlaced fabric. In the 1820s, they were only worn by children, with simple multicoloured daisy patterns. In the 1890s, they were almost extinct, and a simple green Greek cross inscribed in a circle of paper (similar to the Ballina crest pictured). The Irish Times in 1935 reported they were still sold in poorer parts of Dublin, but fewer than those of previous years "some in velvet or embroidered silk or poplin, with the gold paper cross entwined with shamrocks and ribbons".

Saint Patrick's Bell

The Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell

The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin possesses a bell (Clog Phádraig) first mentioned, according to the Annals of Ulster, in the Book of Cuanu in the year 552. The bell was part of a collection of "relics of Patrick" removed from his tomb sixty years after his death by Colum Cille to be used as relics. The bell is described as "The Bell of the Testament", one of three relics of "precious minna" (extremely valuable items), of which the other two are described as Patrick's goblet and "The Angels Gospel". Colum Cille is described to have been under the direction of an "Angel" for whom he sent the goblet to Down, the bell to Armagh, and kept possession of the Angel's Gospel for himself. The name Angels Gospel is given to the book because it was supposed that Colum Cille received it from the angel's hand. A stir was caused in 1044 when two kings, in some dispute over the bell, went on spates of prisoner taking and cattle theft. The annals make one more apparent reference to the bell when chronicling a death, of 1356: "Solomon Ua Mellain, The Keeper of The Bell of the Testament, protector, rested in Christ."

The bell was encased in a "bell shrine", a distinctive Irish type of reliquary made for it, as an inscription records, by King Domnall Ua Lochlainn sometime between 1091 and 1105. The shrine is an important example of the final, Viking-influenced, style of Irish Celtic art, with intricate Urnes style decoration in gold and silver. The Gaelic inscription on the shrine also records the name of the maker "U INMAINEN" (which translates to "Noonan"), "who with his sons enriched/decorated it"; metalwork was often inscribed for remembrance.

The bell itself is simple in design, hammered into shape with a small handle fixed to the top with rivets. Originally forged from iron, it has since been coated in bronze. The shrine is inscribed with three names, including King Domnall Ua Lochlainn's. The rear of the shrine, not intended to be seen, is decorated with crosses while the handle is decorated with, among other work, Celtic designs of birds. The bell is accredited with working a miracle in 1044 and having been coated in bronze to shield it from human eyes, for which it would be too holy. It measures 12.5 × 10 cm at the base, 12.8 × 4 cm at the shoulder, 16.5 cm from base to shoulder, 3.3 cm from shoulder to top of handle and weighs 1.7 kg.

Saint Patrick and Irish identity

St. Patrick features in many stories in the Irish oral tradition and there are many customs connected with his feast day. The folklorist Jenny Butler discusses how these traditions have been given new layers of meaning over time while also becoming tied to Irish identity both in Ireland and abroad. The symbolic resonance of the St. Patrick figure is complex and multifaceted, stretching from that of Christianity’s arrival in Ireland to an identity that encompasses everything Irish. In some portrayals, the saint is symbolically synonymous with the Christian religion itself. There is also evidence of a combination of indigenous religious traditions with that of Christianity, which places St Patrick in the wider framework of cultural hybridity. Popular religious expression has this characteristic feature of merging elements of culture. Later in time, the saint becomes associated specifically with Catholic Ireland and synonymously with Irish national identity. Subsequently, St. Patrick is a patriotic symbol along with the colour green and the shamrock. St. Patrick's Day celebrations include many traditions that are known to be relatively recent historically, but have endured through time because of their association either with religious or national identity. They have persisted in such a way that they have become stalwart traditions, viewed as the strongest "Irish traditions".

Sainthood and modern remembrance

The neo-gothic St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, as seen from Rockefeller Center

17 March, popularly known as St. Patrick's Day, is believed to be his death date and is the date celebrated as his Feast Day. The day became a feast day in the Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, as a member of the commission for the reform of the Breviary in the early part of the seventeenth century.

For most of Christianity's first thousand years, canonisations were done on the diocesan or regional level. Relatively soon after the death of people considered very holy, the local Church affirmed that they could be liturgically celebrated as saints. As a result, St. Patrick has never been formally canonised by a Pope; nevertheless, various Christian churches declare that he is a Saint in Heaven (he is in the List of Saints). He is still widely venerated in Ireland and elsewhere today.

St. Patrick is honoured with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) and with a commemoration on the calendar of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, both on 17 March. St. Patrick is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among English-speaking Orthodox Christians living in Ireland, the UK and in the USA. There are Orthodox icons dedicated to him.

St. Patrick is said to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has never been proven. Saint Patrick Visitor Centre is a modern exhibition complex located in Downpatrick and is a permanent interpretative exhibition centre featuring interactive displays on the life and story of Saint Patrick. It provides the only permanent exhibition centre in the world devoted to Saint Patrick.

Places associated with Saint Patrick

Slemish, County Antrim, traditonally associated with Saint Patrick's time as a shepherd slave.

Slemish, County Antrim

St Patrick's statue at Saul, County Down

St Patrick's Oratory at the top of Croagh Patrick, County Mayo

• Slemish, County Antrim and Killala Bay, County Mayo

When captured by raiders, there are two theories as to where Patrick was enslaved. One theory is that he herded sheep in the countryside around Slemish. Another theory is that Patrick herded sheep near Killala Bay, at a place called Fochill.

• Saul, County Down (from Irish Sabhall Phádraig, meaning 'Patrick's barn')

It is claimed that Patrick founded his first church in a barn at Saul, which was donated to him by a local chieftain called Dichu. It is also claimed that Patrick died at Saul or was brought there between his death and burial. Nearby, on the crest of Slieve Patrick, is a huge statue of Saint Patrick with bronze panels showing scenes from his life.

• Hill of Slane, County Meath

Muirchu moccu Machtheni, in his highly mythologised seventh-century Life of Patrick, says that Patrick lit a Paschal fire on this hilltop in 433 in defiance of High King Laoire. The story says that the fire could not be doused by anyone but Patrick, and it was here that he explained the holy trinity using the shamrock.

• Croagh Patrick, County Mayo (from Irish Cruach Phádraig, meaning 'Patrick's stack')

It is claimed that Patrick climbed this mountain and fasted on its summit for the forty days of Lent. Croagh Patrick draws thousands of pilgrims who make the trek to the top on the last Sunday in July.

• Lough Derg, County Donegal (from Irish Loch Dearg, meaning 'red lake')

It is claimed that Patrick killed a large serpent on this lake and that its blood turned the water red (hence the name). Each August, pilgrims spend three days fasting and praying there on Station Island.

• Armagh, County Armagh

It is claimed that Patrick founded a church here and proclaimed it to be the most holy church in Ireland. Armagh is today the primary seat of both the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland, and both cathedrals in the town are named after Patrick.

• Downpatrick, County Down (from Irish Dún Pádraig, meaning 'Patrick's stronghold')

It is claimed that Patrick was brought here after his death and buried in the grounds of Down Cathedral.

Stone found below St. Patrick's Well. St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland.

Other places named after Saint Patrick include:

• Ardpatrick, County Limerick (from Irish Ard Pádraig, meaning 'high place of Patrick')
• Patrick Water (Old Patrick Water), Elderslie, Renfrewshire. from Scots' Gaelic "AlltPadraig" meaning Patrick's Burn
• Patrickswell or Toberpatrick, County Limerick (from Irish Tobar Phádraig, meaning 'Patrick's well')
• St Patrick's Chapel, Heysham
• St Patrick's Island, County Dublin
• Old Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, Scotland from "Cill Phàdraig," Patrick's Church, a claimant to his birthplace
• St Patrick's Isle, off the Isle of Man
• St. Patricks, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the Baie Verte district of Newfoundland
• Llanbadrig (church), Ynys Badrig (island), Porth Padrig (cove), Llyn Padrig (lake), and Rhosbadrig (heath) on the island of Anglesey in Wales
• Templepatrick, County Antrim (from Irish Teampall Phádraig, meaning 'Patrick's church')
• St Patrick's Hill, Liverpool, on old maps of the town near to the former location of "St Patrick's Cross"

In literature

• Robert Southey wrote a ballad called Saint Patrick's Purgatory, based on popular legends surrounding the saint's name.
• Patrick is mentioned in a 17th-century ballad about "Saint George and the Dragon"
• Stephen R. Lawhead wrote the fictional Patrick: Son of Ireland based on the life of the celebrated Saint.

See also

• Saint Mun, his nephew
• St Patrick halfpenny
• St. Patrick's blue
• St Patrick's Purgatory
• List of Catholic saints
• Ireland

Further reading

• Brown, Peter (2003). The rise of Western Christendom : triumph and diversity, A.D. 200–1000 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22138-7.
• Cahill, Thomas (1995). How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-41849-3.
• Dark, Ken (2000). Britain and the end of the Roman Empire. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2532-3.
• Hughes, Kathleen (1972). Early Christian Ireland: Introduction to the Sources. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-16145-0.
• Iannello, Fausto (2008). "Note storiche sull'Epistola ad Milites Corotici di San Patrizio". Atti della Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, Classe di Lettere, Filosofia e Belle Arti. 84: 275–285.
• Iannello, Fausto (2012), "Il modello paolino nell’Epistola ad milites Corotici di san Patrizio, Bollettino di Studi Latini 42/1: 43-63
• Iannello, Fausto (2013), "Notes and Considerations on the Importance of St. Patrick's Epistola ad Milites Corotici as a Source on the Origins of Celtic Christianity and Sub-Roman Britain". Imago Temporis. Medium Aevum 7 2013: 97-137
• Moran, Patrick Francis Cardinal (1913). "St. Patrick" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• McCaffrey, Carmel (2003). In Search of Ancient Ireland. Chicago: Ivan R Dee. ISBN 978-1-56663-525-7.
• MacQuarrie, Alan (1997). The Saints of Scotland: Essays in Scottish Church History AD 450–1093. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-446-X.
• O'Loughlin, Thomas (1999). "Saint Patrick: The Man and his Works". London: S.P.C.K. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• O'Loughlin, Thomas (2000). "Celtic Theology". London: Continuum. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). "Discovering Saint Patrick". New York: Orbis. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). "The Capitula of Muirchu's Vita Patricii: do they point to an underlying structure in the text?". Analecta Bollandiana. 123: 79–89. doi:10.1484/J.ABOL.4.00190.
• O'Loughlin, Thomas (2007). Nagy, J. F. (ed.). The myth of Insularity and nationality in Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 132–140.

Thompson, E. A. (1980). G. B. Caird, Henry Chadwick (ed.). "St. Patrick and Coroticus". The Journal of Theological Studies. 31: 12–27. doi:10.1093/jts/XXXI.1.12.

External links

• St. Patrick's Confession and Epistola online from the Royal Irish Academy

• Works by Saint Patrick at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Nicknack009/Saint Patrick at the Internet Archive
• Works by Nicknack009/Saint Patrick at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick, edited by James O'Leary, 1880, from Project Gutenberg.
• BBC: Religion & Ethics, Christianity: Saint Patrick (Incl. audio)
• Opera Omnia by Migne Patristica Latina with analytical indexes
• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork includes Patrick's Confessio and Epistola, as well as various lives of Saint Patrick.
• Saint Patrick's Confessio Hypertext Stack as published by the Royal Irish Academy Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic Sources (DMLCS) freely providing digital scholarly editions of St Patrick's writings as well as translations and digital facsimiles of all extant manuscript copies.
• History Hub.ie: Saint Patrick – Historical Man and Popular Myth by Elva Johnston (University College Dublin)
• St. Patrick Timeline | Church History Timelines

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