Saint Patrick

Holiday Figure / Saint
Date Of Birth:
c. 385
Date Of Death:
c. 461
Place Of Birth:
Bannavem Taberniae, Britannianow the United Kingdom
Best Known As:
Ireland's most famous saint
Saint Patrick is the Catholic saint who is celebrated each year on March 17th, which is called Saint Patrick's Day. He is revered by Christians for establishing the church in Ireland during the fifth century AD. The precise dates and details of Saint Patrick's life are unclear, but some points are generally agreed: as a teen he was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland, and six years later he escaped to Gaul (now France) where he later became a monk. Around 432 he returned to Ireland as a missionary and succeeded in converting many of the island's tribes to Christianity. Late in life he wrote a brief text, Confessio, detailing his life and ministry. (It is now known as The Confession of St. Patrick.) The feast day of Saint Patrick, March 17, is celebrated as a day of Irish pride in many parts of the world.
Extra Credit:

A popular folk tale says that Saint Patrick chased all snakes from Ireland, but there is no historical basis for this story… Another folk tale, that Saint Patrick used shamrocks to teach about the holy Trinity, is also generally agreed to be a myth… In Gaelic the saint’s name is Padraig… In his Confessio, Patrick says he was born in a village called Bannavem Taberniae. That village no longer exists (if it ever did) and its location is unknown. Based on other comments made by Saint Patrick in the Confessio, Bannavem Taberniae is widely guessed to have been located somewhere on the western shore of Great Britain.

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