Ireland's patron saint came from mainland Britian. His missionary work was crucial to the conversion of Ireland to Christianity during the 5th Century. Patrick's Celtic name was Patricius and he was the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. He was seized by an Irish raiding party as a teenager near his home, brought across the Irish Sea and sold into slavery. After serveral years herding animals he escaped to mainland Europe where he studied for the preisthood. In a dream he was called to return to Ireland and he did so. This sotry is told in one of the few documents believed to have been written by Patrick himself, his Confessio.

Traditionally the dates 432-461 have been given for his mission in Ireland, and there is little doubt but that his feast day, March 17, was the date of his death. Ireland did have some scattered Christian communities before his arrival. Patrick's mission, however, was the impetus for the conversion to Christianity across the island.

Two biographies were written about St. Patrick around 200 years after he died. The authors were Muirchú and Tíreachán. They were monks who had some knowledge of Patrick's writings and some traditions concerning the saint. The value of these works, however, is dubious and much of the information was included in order to portray Patrick's prophetic profile. These and later medieval biographies are not highly valued by present-day scholars although they do show how a number of legends have developed around the saint.

The stories recorded by Muirchú and Tíreachán, however, do have some connections with Patrick's preaching. In the Confessio, Patrick praises the true "light" of Christianity compared with the worship of the sun. Patrick says those who believe in Christ worship "the true sun who will never perish, nor will anyone who does His will". It is interesting that both authors record a fire-odeal where Patrick showed the superiority of his faith over a pagan druid. According to the story, a servant of Patrick emerged unscathed from the ordeal, being untouched by the fires of paganism, whereas his opponent was totally consumed by the fire of Christian faith.

The most striking story from these early biographies describes Patrick as lighting the first paschal fire in Ireland. As an account, it is full of high drama. We are told that the High King Laoghaire had the custom of lighting a fire at the royal center of Tara on a certain night and that nobody else should kindle theirs before he did so. Patrick had come to the Hill of slane nearby, however, and when Laoghaire saw a fire burning there he was outraged and ordered that the trangessor appear before him. Then Patrick came to Tara as a great Christian hero, and the High King and all the royal forces were confounded by his miraculous powers.

Patrick and his pagan druid opponents are recorded as having several great contests using miracles and magic to change the climate and natural environment. These took place in front of the High King at Tara and his court. The saint won each time. Such accounts portray Patrick almost as a "new" Moses challenging the temporal and spiritual powers of Ireland's rulers just as the leader of the Hebrews challenged the Egyptian Pharaoh. Indeed, just as Moses caused water to spring from rocks at a stroke of his staff, so Patrick is said to have caused holy wells to spring up at different places so as to facilitate the baptism of converts.

The earliest biographies described the mission of Patrick as taking place in the northern half of the country, but around the 9th Century a third account of him was written which extended his mission to the south. In addition to establishing the bishopric at Armagh, it claimed that he founded the bishopric at Cashel, which rivalled the former in prestige. Such claims and counter-claims are closely connected with the rivalry between the Uí Néill dynasty in the north and the Eoghanacht dynasty in the south. These were the two leading power groups of the period.

Literature concerning Patrick written in the 9th Century contains the first references to the saint spending 40 days and nights fasting on top of the mountain of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. God, worried that Patrick might die and thereby leave his mission unaccomplished, asked him to abandon his fast. It is said that Patrick would only do so on three conditions: that the Irish people would not live permanently under oppression, that the country would be submerged seven years before the end of the world and so be spared the final devastation, and that he would be allowed to judge all Irish people on the last day. This tradition, which has Patrick as the special champion of the Irish, has given consolation to the people in times of misery and distress.

The belief that the saint banished snakes from Ireland emerged in various biographies about him in the 11th Century. The indications are that this idea was suggested by the many accounts of how the saint banished the "demons of paganism", and that it was borrowed specifially from a similar motif in the biography of St. Honoratus, founder of the island-monastery of Lérins in France where Patrick is said to have studied. The fact that there were no snakes in Ireland was well known from antiquity, and indeed was referred to by the Graeco-Roman writer Solinus 200 years before Patrick was born.

Patrick is also closely associated with the shamrock. It is said that Patrick used the plant to explain the mystery of the Trinity by explaining that just as three leaves can spring from one stem, so there are also three persons in one God. Today the shamrock is traditionally worn on St. Patrick's Day by Irish men and women around the world. It is now one of Ireland's national symbols.

Many other stories of a curious and sometimes humourous nature have been passed down the centuries. He is said, for instance, to have met survivors of the legendary Fianna warriors, and to have obtained baptism posthumously for the fellows. It is also claimed that he blessed and cursed various parts of the country, depending on the preferences of the storytellers.

Veneration of Patrick gradually assumed the status of a local cult. By the 8th Century homage to Patrick as Ireland's saint was already apparent. At this time Ptrick's stutus of national apostle was made independently of Rome; he was claimed locally as a saint before the practice of canonization was introduced by the Vatican. The veneration in which the Irish have held St. Patrick is evidenced by the salutation, still common today, "May God, Mary and Patrick bless you." Within the Christian calendar Patrick has long been remembered with fondness. this began as early as the 9th Century with the Feast of St. Patrick's "falling asleep"- in other words his passing on March 17. Patrick, Columba, and Brigid are Ireland's three patron saints.

Patrick, the slave-boy forcibly brought to Ireland, has become an inspirational figure to many generations of Irish people. He is remembered as a courageous and protective figure, proficient in miracles, scrupulous in teaching, but full of human kindness and humour.

There are numerous places in Ireland connected with St. Patrick. Lough Derg (red lake), County Donegal, contains as island shrine to the saint. Legend says he killed the lake monster there. The annual three-day pilgrimage begins on June 1.

The Downpatrick Shrine, Downpatrick, is located in the Cathedral church of the Holy Trinity. This is whre St. Patrick, St. Brigid, and St. Columba are believed to be buried. A bell, tooth, and hand from St. Patrick were discovered in the 12th Century. St. Patrick's hand was enshrined in silver and placed in the high altar of the Abbey church. Water was poured through it to heal sores.

According to tradition, Patrick built a stone church at Ard Macha or Armagh (Macha's height) in 445. In 447 St. Patrick ordained that Armagh should have pre-eminience over all the churches of Ireland, a position which it holds to this day. Armagh remains the seat of both the Protestant and Catholic primates.

St. Patrick's Shrine, County Down is dominated by a 12.5m (41 ft high) statue of the saint erected in 1938. Finally, Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, is the mountain where Patrick is said to have stayed during his great fast. Pilgrims climb to the summit every year on the last Sunday in July.