On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
Much of what is known about Patrick’s legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled “The Voice of the Irish.” As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.
Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover–the famous shamrock–to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For centuries, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick’s death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon.
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony under the direction of the colony’s Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in Boston in 1737 and in New York City on March 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick’s Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland’s many charms to the rest of the world. These days, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
I have told the story before, but it is worth repeating. It is set forth in The Story of the Irish Race by Seamas McManus, 1990, pg 117.
There is a historical record that in the mid-fifth century A.D. St. Patrick traveled through Munster to the royal residence at Cashel, meeting and converting King Aongus to Catholicism:
“When about to baptize the King, Patrick thrust his pastoral staff, by its sharp point, into the earth – as he thought. But it was through the foot of Aongus he thrust it. He discovered his grave mistake only when the ceremony was finished. ‘Why did you not tell me this?’ he cried to the King. ‘Because I thought it was part of the ceremony.”
Cashel was royal site of the Eoghanact septs, where some of my Irish ancestors came from.
I can attest to the discomfort that such an accident can have on one’s foot. At the age of about six, while carrying a pitchfork back to the barn for my father, and playing around as a kid would do, I jabbed one of the tines right through my right foot into the ground. Curiously, I do not remember any pain until later when my parent were cleaning and bandaging the wound.
Saint Patrick was 461 years old when he died? Jeezus be! I gotta start drinking moar whisky.
Stuck…Whiskey was invented by God so the Irish wouldn’t rule the World .
This day is special for me not simply because I’m of Irish descent and a citizen of the country, but also because 17 years ago it was my first full day as a resident of Argentina. I was in the capital city, right in the heart of it, and went out for a walk on the main boulevard. When I reached the intersection of the other main drag, I heard drums pounding. I looked up the avenue and there they were, a large group in green: my people! I walked up to join the group and as I got closer, found myself wondering if these folks were the fabled “black Irish”, seeing as many were quite dark-complected. I asked if this was a St. P’s Day gathering and they laughed. They were striking hospital workers in scrubs demonstrating for higher pay. “Your group is up by the train station,” one told me. “They drink a lot today. Lots of fun”.
This story can’t be true. ONLY blacks have ever been slaves, and black slavery started in 1690 and was limited to ONLY the American colonies. The New York Times told me so….so it must be true. LOL.