A ‘Fire That Would Blaze Forever’ in Ireland
On 26 March, Easter Sunday, in 433 the High King and his Irish chieftains were to meet at Tara, and the decree went forth that from the preceding day the fires throughout the kingdom should be extinguished until the blaze was kindled at the royal castle there. A huge crowd had assembled there, as the Druids reported that their oracles had announced that the messenger of Christ had come to Erin.
St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane, at the opposite extremity of the valley from Tara. He was fresh from his forty days of fasting and prayer on the summit of Lough Padraic, an imposing mountain in the West.
It was Easter Eve, and Patrick kindled the Paschal fire on the summit of Slane. The druids at once reported this to the High King and predicted that “this fire, which has been lit in defiance of royal edict, will blaze forever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished."
Repeated attempts to extinguish the blessed fire and to kill St Patrick came to naught, however. On Easter morning, St Patrick -- who was arrayed in full episcopal attire, with mitre and crozier --led a Christian procession to Tara.
The druids and magicians’ incantations created a cloud of ‘worse than Egyptian darkness’ over the hill and surrounding plain.
Patrick explained the mystery of the Triune God using a shamrock, and finally convinced the Druids that they were worshiping idols. He died on March 17, 461 in Saul, Ireland.