[MR] Wikipedia: St. Patrick of Ireland

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially the Irish (which is all of us today!):

Today is the traditional feast day of Saint Patrick, generally regarded as
"The Apostle of Ireland" and the nation's patron saint.

According to legend and his own autobiography, Patrick was born in the late
4th century CE. He was a Romano-British Christian, probably from what is
now northern England. At about the age of 16 he was kidnapped by pirates
from the Irish kingdom of Dál Riata, who sold him into slavery in Ireland
as a herdsman. After some six years, Patrick escaped from Ireland and
returned to his family. He resolved to enter the clergy, and studied in
France where he was ordained. Patrick then returned to Ireland as a
missionary, and spent the rest of his life preaching and converting Irish
pagans to Christianity. He is believed to have died around 464 CE.

As with many saints of this era, all sorts of legends abound about Patrick,
with many treated as facts by believers. One important fact missing from
Patrick's story is that parts of Ireland were already Christianized, though
he gets most of the credit. There was another saint active in Ireland
called Palladius, sometimes also known as Patrick, and the two were often
confused with each other by later writers. To make matters even murkier,
that great 12th century biographical hack Joslyn of Furness wrote about
Patrick and freely borrowed miracle stories from other saints which were
taken as authoritative.

And driving out the snakes? Well, post-ice age there were no snakes in
Ireland. It makes a good story though.

No matter what you believe about Saint Patrick, he is a touchstone of Irish
culture and an important symbol of that country's rich, if somewhat murky
past. So no matter whom you may be, be Irish today--wear some green and
hoist a Guinness or your other favorite tot to his memory.

You can read more about Saint Patrick at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick .

For comparison, here is what the Church says about Patrick:
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-patrick/ .

And the "other" Patrick (Palladius):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladius_(bishop_of_Ireland) .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.