St. Patrick: The apostle and patron saint of Ireland

St. Patrick (ca. 373-464)

The apostle and patron saint of Ireland (commemorated on March 17) was not an Irishman, but was born at what is now Dumbarton, his father, Calpurnius, a deacon and Roman official, having come from "Bannavem Taberniae," which was probably near the mouth of the Severn. As a boy he was captured in a Pictish raid and
sold is a slave in Ireland. He escaped to Gaul about 395, where he studied under St. Martin at Tours before returning to Britain. There he had a supernatural call to preach to the heathen of Ireland, so he was consecrated and in 432 landed at Wicklow. He at first met with strong opposition, but, going north, he converted first the chiefs and people of Ulster, and later those of the rest of Ireland. He founded many churches, including the cathedral and monastery of Armagh, where he held two synods. He is said to have died at Armagh and to have been buried either at Down or Saul. One tradition gives Glastonbury as the place of his death and burial. Downpatrick Cathedral claims his grave.

St. Patrick left his name to numerous places in Great Britain and Ireland, and many legends are told of his miraculous powers--healing the blind, raising the dead, etc. Perhaps the best known tradition is that he cleared Ireland of its vermin.

The story goes that one old serpent resisted him, but he overcame it by cunning. He made a box, and invited the serpent to enter it. The serpent objected, saying it was too small, but St. Patrick insisted it was quite large enough to be comfortable. After a long contention, the serpent got in to prove it was too small. St. Patrick slammed down the lid and threw the box into the sea.

In commemoration of this, St. Patrick is usually represented banishing the serpents; he is shown with a shamrock leaf, in allusion to the tradition that when explaining the Trinity to the heathen priests on the hill of Tara he used this as a symbol.

St. Patrick's Cross

The same shape as St. Andrew's Cross (✕), only different in color, viz. red on a white field.

St. Patrick's Purgatory

A cave in a small island in Lough Derg (between Galway, Clare, and Tipperary). In the Middle Ages it was a favorite resort of pilgrims who believed that it was the entrance to an earthly Purgatory. The legend is that Christ Himself revealed it to St. Patrick and told him that whoever would spend a day and a night therein would witness the torments of Hell and the joys of Heaven. Henry of Saltrey tells how Sir Owain visited it, and Fortunatus, of the old legend, was also supposed to be one of the adventurers. It was blocked up by order of the Pope on St. Patrick's Day, 1497, but the interest in it long remained, and the Spanish dramatist Calderon wrote a play on the subject, El Purgatorio de San Patricio.

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