In all this chaos going around, I almost missed St Patrick day. Never fear, I did manage a tipple in honour of this good man.
Did some research and found some interesting information on Patrick.
‘Patrick was born in AD 387 just south of Hadrian’s Wall in Britain, which was part of the Roman Empire (that’s right — he wasn’t Irish!). He was captured by Irish pagans in his early teens and taken to Ireland, where he was enslaved for six years. During that time, he grew to like the spirit of the Irish. When he escaped and returned to his family, he vowed to one day return to Ireland.
He studied at monasteries on the continent and was eventually ordained a priest and then a bishop. Pope Celestine, I commissioned Patrick to be an apostle to Ireland.
Patrick initially encountered many hardships among the pagans, particularly the druids. They weren’t willing to give up their power over the old religion and feared Patrick and Christianity. Although the ruling monarch, King Laoghaire, didn’t convert to Christianity, many of his family members did, and little by little, the old religion began to fade. Patrick travelled from town to town, tearing down idols and temples and establishing the Catholic Church. By AD 444, the primatial see and the first cathedral of Ireland was built in Armagh.
He baptised, confirmed, and ordained priests, and he erected schools and monasteries. Thousands came into the Church under his direction. He accomplished all these activities in less than 30 years, during which time the whole island nation of Ireland was converted. Toward the end of his life, he wrote Confessions, in which he gives a record of his life and mission. He died on the 17th March 461, of natural causes. He is buried in Downpatrick in present-day Northern Ireland.’
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