Patrick, St

Patrick, St (5th cent.), ‘Apostle of the Irish’. Patrick was born in Britain and brought up as a Christian. At the age of 16 he was captured by pirates and spent six years as a herdsman in Ireland. He turned earnestly to God and received a Divine message that he was to escape. He persuaded some sailors to give him passage to Britain and returned to his kinsfolk, a changed man. He underwent training for the Christian ministry and went from Britain as ‘bishop in Ireland’ (his own phrase); he spent the rest of his life there, evangelizing, ordaining clergy, and instituting monks and nuns. He wrote a moving account of his spiritual pilgrimage, called his Confession, perhaps in response to an attack on his character. Discussions on the chronology of his life have focused on the statement of Prosper of Aquitaine that Celestine I (422–33) sent Palladius to be the ‘first bishop to the Irish believing in Christ’. It is argued that Patrick's mission cannot have been much later than 431; from this the date of his birth is inferred and his death put c.460; others argue that he lived a generation later and died c.490. The canons attributed to him and the ‘Breastplate of St Patrick’ are not his work. Feast day, 17 Mar. See also ST PATRICK'S PURGATORY.