St. Patrick
Patron of Ireland
b. 387 d.461
St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.
Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.
There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.
Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.
As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.
During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote
"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family.
He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more."
He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.
Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.
Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message.
Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).
Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.
He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.
Why a shamrock?Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.
In His Footsteps:Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.

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l need a saint to do a assignment.
What can you tell me of the history of the ancient Chapel dedicated to St Patrick ( no remains )built in the parish of Kirkpatrick, Closeburn,Thornhill, Dfs & Galloway. The Chapel apparently gave its name to the ancient family of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn Castle nearby, and the village and the farm of Kirkpatrick.
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With regards to "Patrick dying at Saul" Local tradition has it that Patrick died at Raholp which is about 1/2mile down the road from Saul and where, to this day, the remains of what is believed to be the oldest Church in Ireland, St. Tassach's Church, are to be found. St. Tassach, Patrick's first convert, gave Patrick the Last Rites, according to tradition. NB. "Tassach" is also "Tassac" depending on whether one uses New Irish Gaelic or Old Irish Gaelic. NB. Raholp is also believed, through tradition, to be the place on Strangford Lough where St. Patrick first arrived to convert the Irish, walking up the now known "Myra Road" to where St. Tassach’s Church ruins now stand on St. Patrick's Road.
what was st patrick terrible sin he committed to get himself kiddnapped by yhe kings of CELTIC IRELAND HE WAS A ROMAN.
A FREE IRELAND NO MORE WHO ENDED THE CELTIC REALM ? THERE WERE NO SNAKES IN IRELAND ONLY THE ROMANS.
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i think that saint Patrick was an awesome dude. Rock on.
my name is Patrick and I'm Irish. I think he rocks. He drove away all the snakes in Ireland too.
I am born on st patricks day which is the 17th of March and i feel a special connection to him due to this. he was a great man
St. Patrick is really cool. I had to research him for a power point project. I'm glad I chose him !!!! :)
i am doing a report on him too because he is cool nice and because i am irsh
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patrick is da best i did a project on him and got an A+!
i love ireland because im irish and i love patrick good old patrick, the best saint ever because he is irish and i'm irish. : ) xxx
Patrick is Scottish Isis and Molly. He just lived in Ireland for a long time.
ALthough Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland that does not make him Irish he was actually born in Scotland which would make him Scottish.
Just because a saint has the same background as you doesn't mean you should pick him. Picking a saint should be about being inspired of what they have done not because they have the same background as you
he is cool by how he converted almost all of Ireland
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i did this for a project on him and i got a good grade!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)
i like st. patrick 'cause he's named after my brother
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Thanks I got to take notes on this it was very helpful.
Thank you SO much for this...The life of St. Patrick is so confusing from other sources! this is very straight forward and understandable!
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This was very interesting I never knew the history behind St Patricks Day. Thank You
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thnx 4 all the help! this was verrrrry interesting (:
it's a good site but i still don't know what the snakes have to do with it? if you know could you please tell me!
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I was born on St Patrick's Day and was named after this Great Saint....may St Patrick continue to Inspire and Bless me Patrick
This website was a huge help to my mother and I. She teaches a religious education class and this website helped her explain St. Patrick to them. Thanks!
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Quote from the text: "Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick." How is this possible? The name "Kilpatrick" is the anglican form of "cill Padraig", which is Gaelic for "The Church of (Saint) Patrick".
Other sources have him born in 390 at Bannaventa, close to the Scotland/England border.
this is a great site I am making my confo on saturday and needed info on saint Patrick ... Thank You so much
I think your site is cool
i was aways told that kirk is the prefix in the scotish kirkpatrick which means of the church i say this because my family name was kirkpatrick and it is scotish
I am not Catholic; I am a Lutheran, but I greatly admire the Catholic church, and one of my sisters converted to Catholicism and it was very dear to her. I wanted some info to share with my little grandson on St. Patrick and I just wanted you to know that I thank you for this info and may God bless you and this web site.
I was primarily opted to research about Saint Patrick for my birthday falls into his feast day. I wonder why the United States looks up to this day (March 17) so gleefully. I discovered that it is Saint Patrick's Day so I tried to google his identity and works. I can say that I am very proud of Saint Patrick and all that he's done. I commend this website for containing relevant information that really helped me in one way or another. Thanks a lot!
that should read, "my mother and me."
It's "an assignment," dear,
this was a wonderful piece of information and i hope you write more
What about the snakes and St. Patrick?
i love Saint Patrick it also helped me with my 5 paragraph essay.
this really helped me in my 5 paragraph eassy i learned a lot about St. patrick
john paul 2 pray for us and for the the world. bless our sicks and help them.
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Thanks for the info. It helped me on my religion project on st.patrick.
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i like this website but it would be nice if more info was on saint Patrick (the rock)
PATRICK IS SO COOL
Since I'm Irish, i consider him my favorite saint because he always scare away the snakes. If any snake tries to attack me or anything, I'll pray to him.
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its st. patricks day march 17
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Who wrote this article???????? I NEED to know!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!! Thank You.
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Where is St. Patrick buried, no one seems to have this information?
Yes i also need to know who wrote this for my report and the date it was done
this site was very helpful but could you please out the date it was written and the authors name thank you and god bless
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i need to make a bibliography, and i would like to know the author's name?
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I thought this was the most useful information I could find for this is the saint my son picked for conformation....Thanks!!!
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This article is very important for my work. But I would like to mention the name of the author in the book that I'm writing.Thank you, Madalena
Helpful article for my work. I would like to know the name of the author. Thank you, Madalena.
My son has chosen St Patrick to be his confirmation saint name. It was great to learn more about St Patrick. Thanks
Thanks for the info helped SO much!!!!!!!!!
does anyone know who the author of this is? i need it for a school project. thank you
This helped a lot with my saint assignment.
st. Patrick is a coool guy
Wow im doing an assignment on saint Patrick and this is very helpful
I am n 6th grade and this page helped me so much.
thaks so muchh =] this is helping me on my 3=page essay...which is due tomorrow
This site is helpful. I am really glad I found this because lots of sites have fake information. I am doing a oral presentation on him so this is a great start Thank-you XD
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St Patick rules!!!!!!!!!! He is awsome!!! I love him !!