St Patrick was a Scot .. or was he?

Despite the three-year recession and debt crisis, today more than 500,000 people packed the heart of Dublin for their annual St Patrick’s day parade.   Thousands of similar parades are taking place around the world – this is the day that everyone’s Irish!  In Vancouver, we have our own parade (on a smaller scale) this weekend.

However, what do we know about St Patrick, one of the world’s most loved saints?

Well .. contrary to popular belief, St Patrick was actually born in Scotland (Kilpatrick to be exact) in 387  to Roman parents .. so that actually makes him a Scot.  At the age of about 16, he was captured by Irish radiers and taken to Ireland as a slave.  Ireland was then a land of Druids and Pagans.   A few years later, Patrick escaped back to his family in Britain.

After entering the Church, Patrick returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop and dedicated his life to bringing the Gospels to Ireland.  He allegedly died in poverty on March 17, 461.

Why a shamrock?

Myth has it that Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and it has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.

Little is known about his life, apart from this – but by the 7th Centure he was revered as the Patron Saint of Ireland and we have celebrated him and the Irish nation on this day ever since.