Saint Patrick's Life

373 - Estimated year of birth
388 - Patrick commits a sin he will later write about
389 - Captured by Pirates and forced into slavery
395 - Is converted to Christianity
395 - Escapes his captors
401 - Ordained in the church
405 - Arrives at Hibernia
432 - Beginning of St Patrick's Ministry in Ireland
433 - Lights blaze at Tara
440 - Begins work of converting Ulster
450 - Approximately when Patrick wrote his Confessions
??? - Patrick writes his letter to Coroticus, date unknown
457 - Patrick resigns as the Head of the Irish Church
461 - Patrick Dies

Saint Patrick contributed to the early church by spreading the faith to Ireland. Although not born in Ireland, he spent most of his life there helping convert the druid peoples to the Christian faith. He preached to the common people because he knew they were the heart and soul of Ireland, and he preached to the kings whom he knew held the power to influence the people. There are two writings that Patrick did that we know of today, that most of what we know about Patrick is based one. One is his confessions (Confessio) and the other is a letter he wrote to Coroticus, (Epistola ad Coroticum) Although Patrick was not a well studied man, he did write both of these texts in Latin. I will cover them later in this paper.

Patrick was not the first missionary sent to Ireland, but he was to become Ireland's first bishop. Early in his travels in Ireland he is said to have come across a local chieftain named Dichu. Legend says that he went to strike Patrick with his sword, and his arm became frozen. It only unfroze when he promised to be obedient to Patrick's will. He gave Patrick a 'sabbhal' or barn, which would go on to be the location where his first monastery and church were erected, and still stand today in Saul.

In 433 there was a decree that all fires in the kingdom should be extinguished until there was but a single fire kindled at Tara. Patrick, in defiance, lit his own fire and proclaimed that it would burn forever in the lands if they could not extinguish it that night. After repeated attempts, they were unable to squelch his fire. The next morning Patrick led a group holding the gospels to Tara. At first he had no luck, but it is said that on their second meeting he picked a shamrock to use to demonstrate the holy trinity. He was then granted permission to preach the faith throughout the land. It was in the following days that he preformed the first public baptism.

It was around 440 that Patrick being to work on the conversion of Ulster , and by 444 a church site was granted at Armagh by the chieftain Daire. From there he next headed to Meath, and then to Leinster. He worked on converting the chieftains to Christianity, and then could leave a few of his people along with the converted ruler to let the religion spread and flourish. He instated a chieftain's son as bishop in Sletty, and erected a church in Ossory (Kilkenny.)

In Leinster, the chieftain was strongly opposed to Patrick and vowed to avenge the insult Patrick was doing to his god. It is said that Patrick's charioteer overheard the plot and asked if he could please sit in Patrick's seat of honor to rest. Patrick agreed and so, when an arrow meant for Patrick was shot, it instead hit his devoted follower and charioteer.

Patrick next proceeded to Munster. Here he baptized the son of the King of Munster. He accidentally cut the man while baptizing him, but he made no sound, he said he thought it may be part of the process. Patrick is said to have then inscribed a cross on his shield and said that it would be the sign of many triumphs .

After many years of missionary work Patrick eventually retired to Sabhall (where he built his first church.) where he eventually died. Throughout his life Patrick continued to look over the churches he founded and spread the religion despite often facing blatant opposition. During his life he consecrated at least 350 bishops. One of the legends he is most famous for is that of driving the snakes out of Ireland. In reality of course there where never any snakes in Ireland to drive out, but this is often believed to be symbolic of him driving out the pagans.

Patrick left us with two major works from which we know most of our information about his life. The first of which is the "Confessio" is an autobiographical confession that he wrote in Latin . It is a unique look at his life from his perspective. The paper covers some very important points in his life. It starts out by telling us how he was kidnapped by pirates when he was 16 years old. It tells the reader that Patrick was embarrassed by his lack of education (maybe it is in trying to overcome this that he chose to write this in Latin?) Patrick tells us that he eventually finds god while out herding pigs, and then manages to escape his captors with help from a guiding voice he heard. He tells us of how he was recalled to Ireland by a dream. He then tells us that he had committed a great sin in childhood and still comes back to haunt him. He goes on to talk about bringing religion to the Irish, and baptizing an Irish princess. He concludes it with "And this is my confession before I die"

The second work written by Patrick was a letter he wrote to Corotcus , (Epistola ad Coroticum) was also written in Latin. This letter was meant to be read publicly in front of Corotcus's supporters. The letter starts off by him being humble, but continues to denounce the slave trade and the chieftain Coroticus for his participation in it. As you can imagine having been a slave himself, Patrick was rather passionate in this letter.

The reason I choose to write about Saint Patrick is that I have taken Irish history classes here at --U in the past and have learned about him and have always found him very interesting. I was eager to refresh my memory on the subject as well as pick up some new information.

I have learned that Patrick was able to almost single handedly convert an entire nation over to Christianity. Although he was not a well educated man, he was driven by belief alone, and able to not only change the religious beliefs of the people, but leave a lasting mark. He founded many churches, and setup the basic structure of the Irish church. He was able to relate to the common man, as well as convert the kings.

Most of all it seems to me that Patrick was a really hard worker. He believed that his faith was correct and despite opposition, he chose not to take the easy path but to continue on his mission to spread his religion. Although we do not have many original writings, from the ones we do have, he seems to be full of strong convictions. I think even a non-Christian would have to admire him for that.

By studying Patrick, I have learned how Christianity developed and spread throughout Ireland, but also learned about the growth of the church in general. Ireland was not the only place where Christianity was successfully spread. Learning about Patrick gives insights to how the church was structured at the time, and how it was expanded.