Who Was St Patrick?

Images of St Patrick's Day celebrations have filled the news over recent days. Legend has it that Patrick died on March 17th 461AD. The Day of the Festival of Patrick is a day to acknowledge the religious work of Patrick, but also by the people of Ireland and those of Irish descent around the world as a celebration of Ireland. Much has been written about  the history of Patrick. Including that he was the son of a Roman citizen named Calpurnius and that he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and spent much of his early life as a slave in Ireland. He was able to escape and travelled to Europe where he studied under Monastic orders at the time when the Western Roman Empire was in decline and that he then rose to be consecrated Bishop of Ireland.

There are two Latin works that survive and are believed as having been written by St. Patrick and give the only generally accepted details of his life. They are the  Declaration (Latin: Confessio) and the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus (Latin: Epistola). It is the Confessio which is the more biographical and in which Patrick gives a short account of his life and his mission. Other details of his life come from later writings and annals. He is widely regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland, although there is evidence of some earlier Christian presence in Ireland. The narrative of how Patrick has gained general acceptance in the popular imagination as single handedly converting Ireland to Christianity is linked to his missionary work in the north of Ireland in what is now modern Armagh. Armagh rose to dominate the Christian Church hierarchy in Ireland and the embellishment of his role in the conversion of all of Ireland naturally followed