The cult of Patrick

St Patrick’s Day, on 17 March, is now regarded as a prime opportunity for Irish politicians to travel abroad on a mission for ‘brand Ireland’. They fly off overseas, armed with the symbol of the shamrock, alerting their hosts to the shiny new liberal Ireland which is such a fabulous investment opportunity — and don’t forget the low corporation tax!

Few national saints have the global reach of Patrick: it has been calculated that church bells ring out in 800 worldwide locations to celebrate the feast day of this Roman Briton who brought Christianity to Ireland in the early 5th century. Jewish bakeries in New York sell green bagels and horses run at Cheltenham in his honour. And everyone knows the legend that he banished serpents, since no snakes exist in Ireland (the Ice Age may have helped the banishment).

Patrick is legendary but he was also a real historical figure, and Roy Flechner seeks to review Patrick’s story in the light of historical evidence — examining Patrick’s own autobiographical writings, as well as other sources from archaeology and Roman and medieval texts — to make ‘educated guesses’ about Patrick’s life.

He came from the west coast of Britain. His family owned a Roman villa, so they were well-to-do. At the age of 16 he was abducted and taken as a captive to Co. Mayo, where he tended sheep. The Irish (confusingly then called the Scotti) commonly raided Britain for slaves, since slavery was not only an accepted practice, but a vital part of the economy. Patrick’s family invested in slaves, as well as in that perennial source of wealth, land.

For six years he lived as a shepherd, learning the language and topography of Ireland, and observing its society, which was less influenced than Britain by Imperial Rome.