Patrick of Ireland
c. 385 – c. 461 · Bishop of Armagh
Also known as Saint Patrick · Patricius
Feast: 17 March (Catholic)
British missionary bishop who evangelized Ireland in the fifth century. Wrote the Confessio and the Letter to Coroticus, the only sure primary documents.
Patrick was kidnapped by Irish slavers as a teenager, escaped, and went back as a missionary to the people who enslaved him. His Confession is the earliest substantial document from Christian Ireland and one of the earliest first-person accounts of any missionary anywhere. The conversion he led was bloodless, organised through monasteries rather than imperial power, and produced a Christianity literate enough to send missionaries back across Europe. He is also the reason there are so many Irish saints — the model he set up made saint-production a cottage industry.
Notable works
- ·Confession (Confessio) · 460
- ·Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus · 460
Primary sources
- ·Patrick, Confessio
- ·Patrick, Epistola ad Coroticum
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