by Alan Noonan

Created on: February 28, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

The 17th of March is a date known to most throughout the world, it is of
course St. Patrick's Day.

It's believed that St. Patrick was born in the year 385 AD. It is a myth
that Patrick was Irish. He was a Briton, born in Bannavem Taburnia according
to his Confession, but it is not known where that is, except that it must
have been on the west coast of Britain, most likely in Wales - which at

least gives him celtic blood. It seems that even though his father was a
Christian roman deacon, he probably took on the role because of tax
incentives as there is no evidence that Patrick came from a religious
family.

During this period of history the hordes of Goths and barbarians from
Northern Europe began hammering at the door of Rome. Rome summoned its
soldiers home from Britain. This was the signal for Irish raiders to harass
the well-stocked towns of the Romans in Britain. On one of these raids,
Patrick, at the age of 16 years, was carried away as a slave. He was sold to
a Druid chieftain in County Mayo near Killala, where Patrick spent the next
six years tending sheep. While herding sheep in the hills and mountains of
that barren district, he had much time to ponder the many Bible verses his
Christian father had taught him before the kidnapping.

In his Confessions he wrote, "At 16 ... in a strange land the Lord opened my
unbelieving eyes and I was converted."

After six years, according to his writing, a voice - which he himself
believed to be God's - spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to
leave Ireland and return home. To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles
from County Mayo on the west coast to the Irish east coast - a long walk
indeed through such unknown territory. After escaping to Britain, Patrick
reported that he experienced a second revelation - an angel in a dream tells
him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He was also haunted by a vision of
the Irish people calling to him, saying "we ask thee, boy, come and walk
among us once more".

Soon after this, Patrick began his religious training, which lasted nearly
twenty years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent back to Ireland
with two main goals - to minister to Christians already living in Ireland
and to begin to convert the Irish that still followed pagan ways. Contrary
to popular belief, Patrick did not introduce Christianity to Ireland, but
did have a huge part to play on it taking hold. As he was so familiar with
the Irish language, culture and people, Patrick chose to incorporate
traditional ritual into his lessons

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