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In honor of St. Patrick's Day we present to you a snippet of Irish history, in two parts.
First – who is Saint Patrick?
Nowhere are the problems of early Irish history more clearly illustrated than in the quest for the historical St Patrick. Evidence for the events of Patrick's life are so hazy that he has been given two distinct lifetimes in the fifth century. We know that he was born in Britain at Bannavem Taberniae, a place never satisfactorily identified, though claims have been entered for Kilpatrick near Dumbarton and even for Boulogne-sur-mer. Thereafter his biography consists of phrases like 'it is thought' and 'probably'. Legend tells that as a boy of sixteen he was carried off into captivity by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in County Antrim. After six years he escaped, went to France and became a monk, first at Tours and then at Lerins. He was consecrated as a bishop and returned to Ireland, where he converted his old master Michu and other chieftains to Christianity. He eventually fixed his see at Armagh, where, probably, he is buried.
The traditional account puts his return to Ireland at AD 432 and his death at 465, and within that time he is supposed to have traversed the whole country in his missionary endeavours. The Christianisation of Ireland was accomplished peacefully, with no recorded martyrs. More recent scholarship has placed his birth at 423 and his abduction at 434. It is thought that he returned to Ireland as a bishop in 456 and died in 493 and that the area of his missionary endeavours was more restricted than tradition would have it.
The only authentic literary sources for Patrick's life are his own spiritual autobiography, the 'Confessio', and his 'Letter to Coroticus'. Both are in rudimentary Latin. The letter is a sharp rebuke to the British chief who had carried some of Patrick's converts into slavery. Coroticus has been identified as Cenedig Wledig, a ruler of Strathclyde, and the saint tells him that it is outrageous that he should have joined with the heathen Scots and apostate Picts to make a raid on Patrick's baptised converts, not only because he was himself a Christian, but also because he was a fellow Roman citizen. This is an observation of great significance. One of the few things we know about Patrick's background is that his father, Calpurnus, had the titles of a Roman magistrate.
– Excerpted from The Shape of Irish History by A.T.Q. Stewart
Tune in tomorrow for a second Irish themed excerpt!
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