Exploding Five Myths About St Patrick Of Ireland

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1) Patrick- an all Irish saint?

The only facts we have about Saint Patrick's biography are two surviving documents written in Latin. Patrick himself is the author of these. The fact that he wrote in Latin, and was a Christian, clearly places him in Christianized Roman Britain. So, Patrick was not Irish by any means, although he became immersed in Irish culture by circumstance as we will see, and later decided to immerse himself further. How did he become associated with Irish identity? It was the 19th century nationalist movement that put him in this role!

2) Patrick was a bishop of the church appointed to convert the Irish

Coming back to the two documents, the first one is a letter of excommunication, addressed to a man who probably was an Irish local king. He had raided Patrick's community killing some and taking others off into slavery. In the letter, Patrick claims authority to excommunicate, acting like a bishop of the church.
The second document however, shines a different light on events. It was written in his own defence for a court case. Patrick had to justify his methods in relation to working as a missionary, likely to British church authorities. The document is entitled 'Confession', and contains Patricks life story, namely the events which led up to him becoming a missionary. He talks about being captured on his fathers' estate by bandits and carried off to Ireland aged 15 to work as a slave herding sheep. He elaborates on how this experience strengthened his Christian faith. He talks about visions telling him to escape after six years, and about the adventures that followed bringing him back home eventually. Years later, it was again visions that told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. It becomes clear from this account that this was Patrick's own personal mission. In fact, both his church superiors and his family resisted this move. He was no bishop and was not sent by the British or Roman churches, but rather, took authority in his own hands.

3) Patrick died on 17th March 493 AD

In the 'Confession', Patrick gives the names of his father and grandfather. But missing entirely from his account are any dates. Because the Irish annals are not reliable until the 7th century, with the Annals of Ulster giving four alternative years of death for Patrick, we cannot actually be sure of when he lived exactly. The annals quote the year of death of one of his disciples, Maucteus, as 535 AD, if true, this would place Patrick's sometime before that.

4) Saint Patrick was the first to bring the Christian faith to Ireland

He wasn't. There were Christian communities here probably as much as 100 years prior to Patrick, for example along the East coast of Ireland where there were a lot of trading links with already Christianized parts of Britain, and in Caherlehillan in County Kerry. Patrick was part of a movement, not the sole bringer of the faith.

But Patrick also stood out in the Christian community. Because of his experience in slavery, he knew his way around the existing culture and must have spoken the language well enough to be able to communicate his ideas. He had a fair idea of who was important and of how to build alliances here. As a result, he dared to venture much further and think much bigger than any of his predecessors. He lived among Irish tribes in remote places. Patrick claims to have converted thousands, which, if true, would make him a lot more effective than anyone before him.

5) Patrick, a magical warrior victorious against pagan kings

Venturing out into the unknown was a brave move, but it also made Patrick very vulnerable. The 'Confession' tells us about some of his trials and tribulations, where, at one stage, he was put in chains, perhaps with the threat of execution hanging over him. He faced immense resistance from local chieftains, especially, one imagines, after some of their daughters started to approach Patrick asking to convert offering him their jewellery and other goods as gifts for the church. Challenging those kings, the powers that be with armies to back them up, was simply not an option for Patrick if he wanted to survive.

One imagines that his life must have been quite a lonely experience, being a foreigner from an entirely different culture, surrounded only by some of those that he converted himself. Not being part of a strong community would have made him vulnerable, for example to food shortages and during illness. In real life, there was no magic to help him.

What emerges from historical evidence is the real Patrick, a human Patrick, a man with limitations, vulnerable, yet determined, with a clear goal, and supported by his faith.