There’s more to St. Patrick than green beer

Published 11:11 pm Friday, March 13, 2009

Green beer, shamrocks and leprechauns smoking wee pipes: These are just some of the popular images that people worldwide think of if when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day.

But St. Patrick himself has little to do with the modern festivities that have taken over his feast day, March 17, the date most commonly thought of as when he died.

Although some of St. Patrick’s life is thought of as folklore (such as driving snakes out of Ireland), most historians do agree on a few things.

Born in Britain, near Dumbarton, Scotland, around 387 A.D., St. Patrick began life as Maewyn Succat. He took the name Patrick later in life when he became a priest.

“Patrick is an interesting guy,” said the Rev. Cynthia Espeseth of St. Hilda St. Patrick Episcopal Church in Edmonds.

Captured by Irish raiders at age 16, Patrick was sent to Ireland for seven years, where he spent time as a shepherd. He prayed during his captivity and had a vision that helped him to escape. His story goes that he left Ireland to go back to Britain on a boat that carried Irish wolfhounds.

Once back in Britain and reunited with his family, Patrick had a vision of returning to Ireland. He convinced the pope to allow him to return to the land of his captors.

“Think about it,” Espeseth said. Being captured by people who imprisoned him, he then wanted to return to that land. Patrick was able to show God and convert the people, Druids and pagans, of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the holy Trinity. “He converted kings.”

After preaching for almost 40 years, Patrick died in Ireland in 461 A.D.

“He seems to have been a very committed individual,” said John Keane, Snohomish County resident, and treasurer at the Irish Heritage Club of Seattle. “He spent 40 days on Loch Dearg in County Donegal.”

That site, an island in the middle of the loch, is a place of pilgrimage where approximately 60,000 people come to visit every year. Visitors must stay a minimum of one day and remain barefoot throughout their stay.

Many wells around Ireland are considered holy since St. Patrick is thought to have baptized people in them.

Growing up in Ireland, Keane went to church on St. Patrick’s Day and then to a soccer game. He only remembers one parade and that was held in Dublin.

Irish people who left their homeland and headed to other parts of the world took St. Patrick with them. Missionaries spread the word of St. Patrick from Africa to South America. Parades are held in Tokyo and there is an Irish pub in Shanghai.

“Unfortunately, the green beer and all that was an American invention,” Keane said.

He’s never had a pint of green beer. “Most people born in Ireland would recoil in horror,” Keane said.

Peace Mass

A Mass for peace in Ireland will be celebrated at noon on Tuesday at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1217 Sixth Ave., Seattle. This is a Catholic Mass in a Protestant church with many denominations included in the event. Some hymns and prayers will be in Irish.