Book Spotlight
I’ve long since had a fascination with Ireland since I was a child. I’ve never really un-
derstood, but I loved the idea that at the end of the rainbow there was a leprechaun
and his gold. I’ve not been there yet, but I do plan on heading that way in the next five
years to hopefully trace my convict ancestor.
Anyway, since this is the March issue, and March is primarily the month of St. Patrick’s
Day (in my mind anyway), I decided to look up some facts about St. Patrick.
St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in the 4th century. No one is really
sure what year he was born, some say 373 and others say 390, so we’ll stick with the
4th century. Even the place of birth for ol’ Paddy can’t be confirmed.
However, we do know he was raised near a village called Banna Vemta Burniae. It was
possibly lowland Scotland but it could also be in Wales. What we do know is at the
time, it was under Roman rule.
It’s been said his real name was Maewyn Succat, and he had a father named, Cal-
pornius, who was a Roman-British army officer, and also a deacon.
Funnily enough, despite his family’s involvement in the church, Patrick was not a be-
liever. He had quite an unexceptional life until he was sixteen. It was around this time,
dramatic events would take hold of young Patrick, and make history for Ireland.
Patrick was kidnapped, along with many others, by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in
Ireland. According to his autobiographical Confessio, which survives, the next six years
were spent imprisoned in the north of the island and he worked as a herdsmen of
sheep and pigs on Mount Slemish in Co. Antrim.
During this period, he became increasingly religious. He considered his kidnapping
and imprisonment as a punishment for his lack of faith and spent a lot of time in pray-
er.
After a vision led him to stow away on a boat bound for Britain, Patrick escaped back
to his family.
There he had a dream that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them
about God. This inspired him to return to Ireland as a priest, but not immediately. At
this point he didn't feel adequately prepared for a life as a missionary. His studies took