St. Patrick - No snakes. No shamrocks. Just the facts.

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St. Patrick

No snakes. No shamrocks. Just the facts.

By David Plotz|Posted Saturday, March 16, 2013, at 5:07 AM

On March 17, revelers will drink green beer in celebration of the man who, according to David Plotz, "didn't rid the land of snakes, didn't compare the Trinity to the shamrock, and wasn't even Irish." In a 2000 Assessment printed below, Plotz stripped the myth away from St. Patrick, evaluating the many different popular incarnations that have arisen in the years since his birth.

Today we raise a glass of warm green beer to a fine fellow, the Irishman who didn't rid the land of snakes, didn't compare the Trinity to the shamrock, and wasn't even Irish. St. Patrick, who died 1,507, 1,539, or 1,540 years ago today—depending on which unreliable source you want to believe—has been adorned with centuries of Irish blarney. Innumerable folk tales recount how he faced down kings, negotiated with God, tricked and slaughtered Ireland's reptiles.

The facts about St. Patrick are few. Most derive from the two documents he probably wrote, the autobiographical Confession and the indignant Letter to a slave-taking marauder named Coroticus. Patrick was born in Britain, probably in Wales, around 385 A.D. His father was a Roman official. When Patrick was 16, seafaring raiders captured him, carried him to Ireland, and sold him into slavery. The Christian Patrick spent six lonely years herding sheep and, according to him, praying 100 times a day. In a dream, God told him to escape. He returned home, where he had another vision in which the Irish people begged him to return and minister to them: "We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more," he recalls in the Confession. He studied for the priesthood in France, then made his way back to Ireland.

He spent his last 30 years there, baptizing pagans, ordaining priests, and founding churches and monasteries. His persuasive powers must have been astounding: Ireland fully converted to Christianity within 200 years and was the only country in Europe to Christianize peacefully. Patrick's Christian conversion ended slavery, human sacrifice, and most intertribal warfare in Ireland. (He did not banish the snakes: Ireland never had any. Scholars now consider snakes a metaphor for the serpent of paganism. Nor did he invent the Shamrock Trinity. That was an 18th-century fabrication.)

According to Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, Paddy's influence extended far beyond his adopted land. Cahill's book, which could just as well be titled How St. Patrick Saved Civilization, contends that Patrick's conversion of Ireland allowed Western learning to survive the Dark Ages. Ireland pacified and churchified as the rest of Europe crumbled. Patrick's monasteries copied and preserved classical texts. Later, Irish monks returned this knowledge to Europe by establishing monasteries in England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy.

The Irish have celebrated their patron saint with a quiet religious holiday for centuries, perhaps more than 1,000 years. It took the United States to turn St. Patrick's Day into a boozy spectacle. Irish immigrants first celebrated it in Boston in 1737 and first paraded in New York in 1762. By the late 19th century, the St. Patrick's Day parade had become a way for Irish-Americans to flaunt their numerical and political might. It retains this role today.

(snip)

We Americans, like everyone else, think St. Patrick is one of us.

Patron Saint of Ireland?

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Interesting read.  I was raised with St. Patrick's Day being a holy day.  I remember one version of his story with him having been brought to Ireland as a slave belonging to someone on the ship, and that he was from Spain.  Of course the shamrock thing was in every story. 

While St. Patrick's Day is still a day just honoring him, I sure don't mind that it's easier to find places with Irish music around this time of year.

[CG6468]

Interesting read.  I was raised with St. Patrick's Day being a holy day.  I remember one version of his story with him having been brought to Ireland as a slave belonging to someone on the ship, and that he was from Spain.  Of course the shamrock thing was in every story. 

While St. Patrick's Day is still a day just honoring him, I sure don't mind that it's easier to find places with Irish music around this time of year.

I've never heard of it being a Holy Day, but I'm not a Roman Catholic.

He did spend time as a slave.

I agree with you re: Irish music! 

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Just a holy day like others.  I went to Catholic school, and there were "feast" days.  St. Theresa, St. Francis, lots of saints.  Just days that gave those interested a cue to ponder that person's life and their contribution to those around them.  I'm sure, in hopes that we would emulate the good they did.  I know my Italian neighbors favored a few saints with Italian heritage.  I think the whole St. Patrick's celebration was just an Irish pride thing that went commercial.

[Celtic Rose]

I have an icon of Saint Patrick on my wall, and we honored him at church this morning. 

Troparion to Saint Patrick

Holy Bishop Patrick,
Faithful shepherd of Christ's royal flock,
You filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel:
The mighty strength of the Trinity!
Now that you stand before the Savior,
Pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

[longview]

I have an icon of Saint Patrick on my wall, and we honored him at church this morning. 

Troparion to Saint Patrick

Holy Bishop Patrick,
Faithful shepherd of Christ's royal flock,
You filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel:
The mighty strength of the Trinity!
Now that you stand before the Savior,
Pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

That says about all one needs to know about him!  Very nice.  It's still interesting to hear of his travels and the legends are fun, too.

[Eupher]

This book is a fascinating read.

It's well-written, researched, and goes into much detail about how the Irish saved civilization.

No bullshit.

http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civilization-Hinges-History/dp/0385418493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363574367&sr=8-1&keywords=Irish+and+civilization