The Patron Saint of Ireland
By C.J. Markey
When you think of St. Patrick’s Day, you probably think of green beer, shot glass necklaces that say “Kiss Me I’m Irish,” and everybody talking about
how Irish they suddenly are. That’s all well and good, but I bet you don’t know much about the holiday’s origins, or the saint it celebrates. Well, take
off that stupid hat, stop talking like a leprechaun for a second, and educate yourself a smidge.
St. Patrick, considered the patron saint of Ireland, was actually born in Banna Venta Berniae, a town in Roman Britain, sometime in the late 300s AD.
That’s right, Patrick wasn’t Irish. And his name wasn’t Patrick either—it was Maewyn Succat, but he didn’t care for that, so he chose to be known as
Patricius down the line. He actually had many monikers throughout his life: he was known to many as Magonus, to others as Succetus, and to some
as Cothirthiacus. But we’ll just call him Patrick since everybody else does. Has a nice ring to it...
His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon in the early Christian church, but Patrick wasn’t much of a believer himself. It wasn’t until he was captured by
Irish pirates at the age of 16 and enslaved for six years as a shepherd that he chose to convert to Christianity.
While in northeastern Ireland, Patrick learned the Irish language and culture before attempting to escape back to Britain. But apparently Patrick
wasn’t very good at escaping, because he was captured again. This time by the French. He was held in France, where he learned all about monasticism
before he was released and sent home to Britain where he continued to study Christianity well into his twenties.
Eventually, Patrick claimed he had a vision that told him to bring Christianity to the Irish people, who were predominantly pagan and druidic at the
time, so Patrick made his way back to Ireland and brought a big ol’ bag of Christianity with him.
When Patrick arrived back in Ireland, however, he and his preaching ways were not welcomed, so he had to leave and land on some small islands
off the coast. There he began to gain followers, and he eventually moved to the mainland to spread Christian ideologies across Ireland for many years
40 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MARCH 2020