Patrick of Ireland

March 17 is recognized around the world as St. Patrick’s Day. For many, this day is little more than an opportunity for celebrating Irish heritage with parades and Celtic music, wearing green clothing, eating corned beef and cabbage, decorating with shamrocks and leprechauns, and, for some, the excessive consumption of alcohol. Few people take the time to consider who Patrick really was or how this figure was significant enough that a calendar date has been set aside to remember and recognize him. 

Little is known about the man we refer to as St. Patrick. There are only two trustworthy sources of information about him and his life. The primary sources of information about Patrick are two writings that are widely recognized as having emanated from the pen of Patrick himself. The first is his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus (c.440-450), written to condemn British soldiers for their enslavement and murder of recently baptized Irish believers. This letter tends to identify Patrick as a leader in the early church of Ireland, and it stresses both the equality of all believers and the need for justice and morality. 

Patrick’s second writing is his Confessio (Confession), which was written closer to the end of his life (c.450-460). This spiritual autobiography was written in simple Latin, demonstrating that Patrick was not a scholar, and provides the reader with the story of a humble servant of God. The Confessio is both an apologetic piece defending his ministry in Ireland and an informational document that tells the reader about Patrick’s early life, his conversion, and his call to serve as a missionary in Ireland. This memoir, written in an unassuming and reflective manner, provides the greatest amount of trustworthy information available on the life of Patrick. 

The Mythical Patrick 

In the Middle Ages, at least three important biographies were written about Patrick. These biographies, which are far more hagiographic than reliable, are important primarily because they demonstrate the enduring significance of Patrick in the centuries after his death. While these works tend to originate from Patrick’s writings, they also add numerous miracles and oral traditions about Patrick to make him appear more impressive and more worthy of recognition as a saintly figure. 

Among the Medieval biographies of Patrick are Muirchú moccu Machtheni’s The Life of Saint Patrick (c. seventh century), Tirechán’s Life of Patrick (c. seventh century), and the anonymously written Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick (c. ninth century). From these three hagiographic works have developed many of the mythical traditions about St. Patrick (e.g., driving the snakes out of Ireland, using the shamrock to teach the Trinity, etc.). While there may be some legitimate stories about Patrick that were handed down to these authors (e.g., defiantly lighting a Paschal fire on the Hill of Slane), it’s nearly impossible for modern historians to separate truth from fiction in these works (except for the parts that are taken directly from Patrick’s writings). 

What Do We Know About Patrick? 

One of the most fascinating aspects of Patrick’s life is that he was not from Ireland. While the year of his birth is unknown, most historians tend to date his birth around 385. According to Muirchú, Patrick’s pre-Christian name was Maewyn Succat, and he only took the name “Patricius” after he became a Christian, but there’s little evidence outside of Muirchú’s The Life of Saint Patrick to support this contention. 

In his Confessio, Patrick reveals he was born in the village of Bannavem Taburniae, an unknown coastal location in Roman Britain or Wales. While he informs his readers that he was not very religious in his youth, he identifies his grandfather, Potitus, as a priest and his father, Calpurnius, as a Roman official and deacon in the church. Around the age of 16, Patrick and others were kidnapped and sold into slavery when a group of Irish pirates raided his village. From all indications, his introduction to Ireland was on the occasion that he was hijacked from his family and taken there to serve as a captive servant. 

Patrick’s slavery in Ireland was not pleasant. In addition to facing the challenges of hunger, inclement weather, insufficient shelter, and an unsympathetic master who put him to work as the shepherd of his sheep, Patrick’s Confessio suggests that he struggled with intense loneliness. Amid the isolation and fear resulting from his captivity, Patrick began to pursue the God that his grandfather and father served. In desperation, he claimed that he often prayed over one hundred times each day. The experience of his confinement sparked the religious awakening within him that would mark his later identity. 

After six years of captivity, Patrick said he experienced a dream in which the Lord called him to escape from his imprisonment and flee to the coast in search of a ship that would transport him back to his family in England. After a lengthy journey across Ireland, Patrick found a ship of non-believers preparing to depart for England. Initially, they refused to allow him to board their vessel, but soon changed their minds and agreed to transport Patrick back to England. After a significant amount of wandering and near starvation, he ultimately made it back to his home. 

Once he arrived home safely, Patrick committed his life to a career of ministry to Christ and the church. He studied Christian theology for several years before being ordained a bishop and experiencing his calling—through a dream—to return to the land of his enslavement to preach the gospel. In his dream, Patrick saw a man named Victoricus coming from Ireland and delivering many letters. One letter, entitled “The Voice of the Irish,” was given to Patrick, and he heard an Irish voice saying, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” Upon waking from his dream, Patrick devoted himself to missionary work in Ireland, even though his previous experience with the Irish was the unpleasant ordeal of being a slave. 

Patrick is thought to have returned to Ireland as a missionary around 432 and to have established his first Irish church at Saul (today in County Down, Northern Ireland) in a local farmer’s barn. His ministry in Ireland was certainly not an easy one, as he encountered various cultural and language barriers, along with the normal challenges of life and survival in a demanding land. Moreover, as he traveled throughout the island, Patrick faced opposition from numerous pagan religious leaders (primarily Druid priests) as well as the local rulers and chieftains who objected to his plea for the people of their regions of Ireland to give their total allegiance to Christianity. On several occasions, Patrick’s enemies had him imprisoned and even threatened his very life. Yet, Patrick’s unquenchable propagation of the gospel and his sincere concern for the salvation of the Irish people led to the conversion of the island to Christianity. 

Amid the many challenges and threats that Patrick faced, his missionary ministry was incredibly successful. As his life moved forward, he built upon the support of his earlier converts to ultimately lead thousands of people to Christ, convert entire tribes and clans to Christianity, and establish hundreds of churches. Years after his death, a myth developed about Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland. In reality, there were never any snakes in the harsh northern climate of Ireland. Patrick was so successful in his efforts to convert pagans to Christianity, however, that later generations described Patrick’s ministry as a metaphorical elimination of the serpents (pagans) from the Emerald Isle. 

The island of Ireland was a rough and uncultured place during Patrick’s time there in the fifth century. There was little comfort or civilization, and his life was repeatedly in danger. Patrick wrote that he would have liked to return to the security of his homeland and was once even summoned by the church to return to England. Believing that God had called him to his ministry in Ireland, however, Patrick explained that he was determined to remain in Ireland throughout the duration of his life and to continue his missionary work among the Irish people. While there is no definitive information about the date of Patrick’s death, tradition says that he died on March 17, the date on which we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today. The year of his death is questionable, but many suggest it was around 461. Tradition also tells us that Patrick’s body was buried in the Irish community of Downpatrick, not far from the site where he established his first church in an Irish barn. 

What We Can Learn from Patrick 

While the man that we traditionally refer to as St. Patrick was never formally canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic tradition, his works for Christ and the church were widely recognized by the time of his death, and his sainthood was popularly acknowledged. So prominent was he as a Christian leader in Ireland that several later legends emerged to sanctify his reputation. Ironically, Patrick’s ministry and work are worthy of remembrance without the need for embellishment. 

In his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West … Again, George H. Hunter III identifies Patrick as the missionary-progenitor of the Celtic Christian Movement that quickly and successfully won pagan Ireland to Christianity and advanced the gospel throughout much of Europe. The Celtic plan for evangelism that Patrick pioneered, according to Hunter, saw conversion as a gradual journey, differing from the Roman belief that conversion was a momentary decision. Patrick’s evangelistic model, Hunter explains, was to build authentic relationships that stressed belonging before belief and the practice of incarnational missions in which the lost can see the gospel lived out in daily life. Hunter concludes by noting that modern Western society is growing remarkably similar to what pagan Ireland was like before Patrick. He suggests that the modern church adopt the methods of evangelism forged by Patrick to again win a pagan culture to Christ. 

This year, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps we can use the occasion to follow Patrick of Ireland’s model: Celebrate (appropriately) with the lost culture around us, create a sense of belonging for those in our pagan society, and live out the gospel in a manner that will prayerfully and hopefully influence the lost around us to become followers of Jesus.