St. Patrick

Patrick was born in Britain, at the end of the fourth century, the grandson of a priest and son of a Christian deacon. He was kidnapped before his 16th birthday by Irish pirates, made a slave and forced to herd sheep for six years. He eventually escaped, but returned to Ireland and started the church there.


A humble man who shunned the limelight, Patrick wanted an unmarked grace and he got it. No one knows when he died or where he’s buried. Even the date of death is uncertain- maybe the 460’s, maybe the 490’s.


The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York colony on March 17, 1762. Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched to bolster pride in their heritage. Today, the arch-bishop of New York reviews the parade from the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was completed in 1879.


Following are a few misconceptions and little-known facts about one of the world’s most popular saints: He was not the first bishop of Ireland, but the second, after Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431. Patrick took over in 432.



It’s just popular lore that he drove the snakes out of Ireland.


Stories that he converted every soul in Ireland are false. For centuries after he founded the Christian church there, Druids and other worshippers of pagan Celtic gods remained.


It would have been clever, but to the best of anyone’s knowledge, St. Patrick never used the shamrock in sermons to explain the Holy Trinity. Like the leprechaun, that’s just another myth.