Myths, Facts and Stories of St. Patrick
Patron Saint of Ireland, Snakes and the Devil Only Met in Stories
Mar 11, 2009
He's a Celtic Briton, born before the Irish or English existed. He wasn’t truly converted to Christianity until he was kidnapped by Irish raiders at 16 and spent six years on the Emerald Isle tending sheep. Lonely and scared, he turned to religion.
Patrick wrote that after six years God spoke to him in a dream and told him to leave Ireland; the young man walked 200 miles to the Irish coast and hopped on a boat back to his home. In another dream, an angel appeared to him and told him to go back to Ireland, this time as a missionary. After 15 years of religious training and ordination to the bishopric by the Catholic church, he returned to the land of his captivity. He died on March 17, about A.D. 460, in his 70s.
On that, most historical accounts of the man’s life agree. What happened during his mission includes everything from comparisons to Jesus to making the saint, who was considered a saint by the Irish people long before the Catholics made it official, seem all-powerful.
Myth vs. Fact.
Myth: St. Patrick stood on a rock with a staff a là Moses and banished all the snakes from Ireland.
Fact: There were no snakes in Ireland before Patrick’s declaration. The snakes most likely represent paganism, which was banished; all of Ireland was Christianized by two centuries after Patrick’s mission.
Myth: Corned beef is part of a traditional Irish St. Paddy’s Day celebration.
Fact: Poor Irish immigrants in New York’s Lower East Side couldn’t afford the traditional Irish bacon, so they substituted corned beef, a dish borrowed from their Jewish neighbors.
Myth: Dublin pubs started serving green beer in the 19th century.
Fact: Until 1970, Irish pubs were closed on St. Patrick’s Day because it was a religious holiday. Most Irish families went to Church in the morning and then had dinner later that afternoon – Irish bacon and cabbage.
Myth: The Irish celebrated with parades.
Fact: The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York City in 1762; Irish soldiers in the English military marched through the city in celebration. Today, the annual St. Paddy’s Day parade includes more than 150,000 marching through the streets of New York.
Myth: Patrick was the first Christian missionary in Ireland.
Fact: He was the most successful missionary, but not the first. Pope Celestine sent another missionary, Palladius, to Ireland prior to Patrick’s mission.
Myth: While on a pilgrimage, Patrick was tempted by the devil.
Fact: That was Jesus, on a mountain, after the Sermon on the Mount.
Myth: Because he refused the devil’s temptations, God rewarded him with one wish. Patrick asked that Ireland not go through the horrors of Judgment Day and that he be allowed to judge his people; rumor has it that Ireland will be swallowed up by the sea seven years before the final judgment.
Fact: We’ll know come Judgment Day.
Myth: When the missionary Patrick returned to Ireland, he knew he needed some sway with the people, so he went to Laoghaire, the high king of Tara, as spring was approaching. He started a huge fire to celebrate spring, even though tradition dictated that the king be the first to light his fire. Laoghaire confronted the missionary, who asked to be allowed to teach Christianity. He pulled a shamrock from the ground and used the stem and three leaves to explain the Godhead.
Fact: While some preacher probably did use this method of illustration, St. Patrick did not.
Myth: He was rumored to have shown up the Druid priests who were with the king at this time and did not want Patrick teaching in Ireland. They demanded that he cause snow to fall; he refused because he said that was God’s work. It then started to snow.
Fact: Nothing historical corroborates the account. Believe it if you like.
St. Patrick's Day Today
Whatever the truth behind the great stories, St. Patrick’s influence now extends beyond the beaches of his beloved island. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated throughout Asia and Europe in addition to the various celebrations in the United States (Chicago dyes its river green each year), parades are popular, "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" hats, T-shirts and pins go way up in popularity, and people of all descents eat corned beef, wear green, tie on shamrocks and claim Irish heritage for the day. Ireland has embraced it as a way to increase tourism and international identity for the country.
And yes, the pubs are open and the beer is green.
Sources:
“St. Patrick’s Day, History Channel Web site.
“Myths of St. Patrick’s Day.” Edward T. O’Donnell, George Mason University’s History News Network, March 11, 2002.
The Information about Ireland site
