Who Was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick was born in Great Britain—not Ireland—to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century A.D.

There is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives.

At the age of 16, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland, where he spent around six years in captivity, possibly as a slave. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.)

During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to religion for solace and became a devout Christian. It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.

During his lifetime, St. Patrick shared that he had two transformative religious experiences that led him to become a Christian missionary. His first vision also helped him escape his captors.

According to his writing, a voice—which Patrick believed to be God’s—spoke to him in a dream, telling the 20-something it was time to leave Ireland. To do so, Patrick walked from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast.

After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation: An angel in a dream told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than 15 years.

After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission: to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. (Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.)

Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional rituals into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the pre-Christian Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire.

He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, making veneration of the symbol more natural to the Irish.

Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish people practiced a nature-based pagan religion. Ancient Celtic culture in Ireland centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth. Given this, it is no surprise that the story of Patrick’s life became exaggerated over the centuries—spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of the Irish way of life.

St. Patrick is believed to have died on March 17, around A.D. 461.

Today, he is known as the patron saint of Ireland, but Patrick was never actually canonized by the Catholic Church. This is simply due to the era he lived in: During the first millennium, there was no formal canonization process in the Catholic Church.

After becoming a priest and helping to spread Christianity throughout Ireland, Patrick was likely proclaimed a saint by popular acclaim.

Seventeenth-century Irish priest Luke Wadding was steadfast in honoring St. Patrick every March and convinced the Catholic Church to declare March 17 as the feast of St. Patrick. This annual observance has evolved into the holiday we know today.

Since at least the 17th century, people across the globe have also celebrated St. Patrick’s legacy. A parade was held in St. Augustine, Florida, (then a Spanish colony) at the turn of the century. Now, St. Patrick’s Day parades celebrate the famed missionary, and Irish culture more broadly, in places as far away as the Caribbean, Japan and New Zealand.