Saint
Patrick - Life and Legend
Ireland's
patron saint, St Patrick is widely celebrated by Irish people throughout
the world on his feast day 17th March. But what about St Patrick
himself and what does he mean to the Irish?
Go
into any Irish town and you'll come across a cathedral, a
church or a street named after St Patrick and if you're know
anyone of Irish heritage, chances are they'll have a Patrick,
a Pat, a Paddy a Padraic or a Patricia somewhere in the family.
St Patrick is linked to Ireland's national emblems, a number
of important religious sites and landmarks throughout Ireland, as
well as countless folk tales. St Patrick is as much an integral
figure in Irish cultural discourse as he is in the country's
Christianity.
There
is much debate about St Patrick's life. Much of what is known
of him is taken from his own account in his ‘Confessio'
and much more from legend. St Patrick was born around the 5th Century
in the settlement of ‘vico banavem taberniae', which
scholars believe to be somewhere in the west of Britain, probably
Wales. He was born into a Romano-British family and his father was
a deacon, but at the age of sixteen he was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in Ireland.
Here
he was slave to a Druidic chieftain, either in Dalradia, County
Armagh or Fochill, County Mayo, where he herded sheep. After several
years he escaped back to Britain and studied for the priesthood
in France. After a vision in a dream, St Patrick set back out to
Ireland on a mission to convert the pagans there to Christianity.
Though he was by no means the first Christian mission he was certainly
the most prevalent and to say he made the biggest impression on
Ireland is an understatement.
Many
places throughout Ireland are associated with the legends of St
Patrick. The Hill of Slane, just outside Dublin was the stage for
one of St Patrick's most dramatic tales. At the time the High
King of Laoghaire held a feast during which he would light the first
fire in the land at the royal centre of the Hill of Tara. Imagine
the look on his face when he noticed that St Patrick had already
lit one just a few mile away on Slane! Outraged he met with St Patrick
to put out his fire, but it was indistinguishable, then the King's
druids and St Patrick launched into a battle of miracles, bending
the climate and elements at their will. Patrick won and it was here
that St Patrick explained the mystery of the holy trinity with the
humble shamrock, establishing the three-leafed flower as Ireland's
national emblem, which is ubiquitously worn on St Patrick's
Day.
St
Patrick's other famous miracle, the banishment of the snakes,
is supposed to have occurred following his Great Fast on the mount
Croagh Patrick, outside Westport in County Mayo. St Patrick climbed
the mountain where he fasted for 40 days, before expelling all the
snakes from Ireland. The fact is that there were never actually
any snakes in Ireland to expel, the whole episode is really symbolic
of St Patrick converting the natives to Christianity and banishing
the Druids whose symbol was the serpent. But it makes banishing
the snakes makes a better story and to this day Croagh Patrick attracts
thousands of pilgrims who make the trek 765ft to the summit on the
last day of July.
Other
places connected with St Patrick include Lough Derg in County Donegal,
where according to legend the great saint killed a monster in the
lake. There is a shrine to St Patrick on Station Island here, where
pilgrims come to fast and hold vigil on the island for three days.
But
perhaps the most important religious place claimed by St Patrick
is Armagh. According to tradition it is here in this Ulster town,
that St Patrick built a stone church around AD 445 and ordained
it the most pre-eminent church in all of Ireland. Even today Armagh
is the primary seat of both the Catholic and the Protestant churches
in Ireland and both the their cathedrals in Armagh are named after
St Patrick.
Not
to far away, in Saul, County Down is another important site for
St Patrick Pilgrims. It was here that St Patrick established his
first church in a barn or Saul given to him by his first convert,
a local chieftain called Dichu. It is said that when St Patrick
died sometime around AD 490 on March 17th, his body was laid on
an ox drawn cart, to be rested in the place he loved most. The cart
stopped at Saul, where St Patrick's mission first started,
and his last resting place is marked by a shrine in the grounds
of Down Cathedral, which is built on the site of St Patrick's
first church. St Patrick's final resting place is said to
be shared by that of Ireland's other main saints; St Brigid
and St Columba. Close to the Cathedral and well worth a visit, is
the Saint Patrick Centre, an interpretive exhibition drawing from
the details of St Patrick's own account in his ‘Confessio'.
The centre also looks at how St Patrick's Day is celebrated
throughout the world and what the day means to both sections of
the community in Northern Ireland.
Throughout
Ireland and indeed those other parts of the world that become Irish
on 17th March, St Patrick's Day is celebrated with street
parades, music, dance and Guinness; Craic agus Ceol and because
of (or perhaps despite) the whole green leprechaun frenzy of it
all, St Patrick's Day has become one of the biggest self marketing
tools for Ireland. So as you can see, St Patrick isn't just
a patron saint, but a champion of the Irish people and figurehead
for Ireland, that through his life and legend has come to symbolising
to people a sense of hope during oppression, struggle against adversity
and hopefully; of unity or at the very least a good excuse for a
party!
Seamus
O'Murchú
until
this time next month...
Best Wishes,
Conor B & Seamus.
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