Patrick, Saint

Saint, the patron saint of Ireland. He lived about 396-469. The name is Latin, signifying patrician. According to one tradition he was born near the present town of Dumbarton, Scotland, where his father was evidently a man of some standing, a deacon in the Roman garrison. Patrick was captured by a marauding expedition of Irish Picts and sold into slavery in Ireland. Here he led a hard life, but succeeded after a time in escaping. He then, according to the popular account, fitted himself for the priesthood in France and at Rome, where he obtained permission from Pope Celestine to return to Ireland to convert the natives to Christianity. He left two pieces of writing; one, a so-called Confession, is a defense of his work in Ireland and is in a way autobiographical. In reality, beyond the fact that he was one of the earliest, if not the first priest to preach Christianity to the Irish, little is known regarding the details of his life. The popular saying that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland is peculiar, as snakes never existed in that island. All accounts seem to imply that St. Patrick was not an Irishman at all, but a man of Roman ancestry, born in Scotland,-a Christian missionary to the Irish. The 17th of March is observed by the Irish as St. Patrick's day. See Shamrock; Ireland