St. Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and was probably responsible in part for the Christianization of the Picts and Anglo-Saxons. The available body of evidence about him is contradictory. It appears that Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the early part of the fifth century, but as a teenager was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland. While in captivity, he prayed daily, his faith grew, and after six years he heard a voice telling him to go home. He fled his master, made his way to the western sea, and returned to his family. He entered the church, becoming a deacon and a bishop, and later returned to Ireland as a missionary.
Although the dates of his life cannot be fixed with any certainty, most modern historians accept March 17, 493 as the date of his death. He is said to be buried under Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has not been proven.
Interesting Traditions surrounding St. Patrick
- Although post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes, St. Patrick is credited in legend with banishing them. Snakes possibly referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids.
- Legend also has it that Patrick taught the people of Ireland about the Trinity by using the shamrock, a three-leaved clover.
- St. Patrick’s Day became a public holiday in Ireland in 1903. Before that it was celebrated only as a religious holiday.
- The widespread use of alcoholic beverages on St. Patrick’s Day may be rooted in the fact that the Roman festival of Bacchanalia, honouring Bacchus to whom wine was sacred, fell on March 17.
- Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Canadian province in which St. Patrick’s Day is an official holiday.
- In Toronto from 1919 to 1927, the Toronto Maple Leafs were known as the Toronto St. Patricks, and wore green jerseys.
- In 1780, General George Washington gave his troops a holiday on March 17, an event that later became known as the St. Patrick’s Day Encampment.