Saint Patrick
In Roman Catholic mythology, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was actually born in Britain (or possibly France) when it was controlled by the Roman Empire, kidnapped by Irish raiders at the age of 12, and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped back to Britain, then returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary to convert the pagans. Patrick's subsequent writings include one of the small handful of contemporary sources for what was happening in Britain between the end of Roman government and the Anglo-Saxon takeover.
St. Patrick's Day is a joyous festival on March 17 and an excuse to wear green and drink lots of Guinness and Bailey's. In Ireland, it is colloquially referred to as "Paddy's Day" while most Americans prefer to say "Patty's Day", presumably because they cannot go for any length of time without thinking of burgers.
[edit] Legends
- He allegedly banished snakes from Ireland. If the legend is to be taken literally, it's weakened somewhat by the lack of snake fossils.
- He used the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the trinity
- To compete with a druid in a test of whose god was real or more powerful, they wet and burned their respective holy books to see which would survive, and then set fire to buildings they were in after swapping robes. Allegedly, the druid burned to death inside Patrick's untouched cloak, whereas Patrick survived as the pagan cloak burned around him. To readers of the Bible, it should be obvious where the idea of testing each other's god was ripped from.