St. Patrick has become larger-than-life, the stuff of myths and legends.  Much of what is claimed of him is highly improbable — like that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland.  However, like many legends, it has some basis in fact.  St. Patrick was a real person, and one of real influence on Ireland.  (Perhaps the myth about the snakes arose from a more figurative idea of eliminating “snakes”?)

St. Patrick’s Early Life

Perhaps one of the most surprising things about St. Patrick is that he wasn’t Irish! He was born in AD 387, probably in Gaul.  (There is some uncertainty about the location of his hometown, which may have been in Britain.)  As a teenager, he was captured and sold into slavery as a shepherd in Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Ministry

After being restored to his family, visions from God convinced Patrick he was to return to Ireland as a missionary, so he spent a number of years in preparation.  First he attended seminary.  Then he completed additional training at a different facility, before joining two other church leaders on a trip to England to address the heresy of Pelagianism.

Sometime after this, he left for Ireland, where he spent the remainder of his life evangelizing areas of Ireland where the Church had not yet penetrated.  He made and baptized converts and established clergy to lead them.  He was known as a man of the Word, and apparently spent some time confronting heresy (particularly Pelagianism and Arianism – hence his emphasis on the doctrine of the Trinity) and paganism.

The End of St. Patrick’s Life

As he neared the end of his life, Patrick retired to the monastery at Saul, where he died in AD 461.  There is some disagreement about where his true remains are interred.

Learning More

As an adult, if you want to learn more, St. Patrick wrote an autobiography, which he called his “Confessions.”  There are also some older biographies in the public domain.  They aren’t very accessible for younger readers, though.

If you want to introduce the real St. Patrick to your children or students, I’ve condensed and adapted his story from several of these older St. Patrick biographies in the public domain, so it’s a little over a page long.  Nothing extensive, just a brief overview of who he really was.

In addition to the biography, it includes a brief glossary, a couple of old maps to help clarify the geography of the day, an older art image of St. Patrick, and a St. Patrick coloring page based on this image.  (As is typical of classic art, St. Patrick has a halo to indicate his sainthood.  I’ve created two versions of the coloring page: one that retains this halo, and one without for those who are uncomfortable with that imagery.)

This PDF packet is now available through Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Fast Facts About St. Patrick (and St. Patrick’s Day)

• Patrick was not Irish.  He was probably a Gaul, possibly British.
• He lived shortly before the medieval era, from AD 387 to 461.
• St. Patrick was a Christian missionary in Ireland; however, he was not responsible for introducing Christianity to Ireland, as it already had an established presence.
• St. Patrick was not a Roman Catholic Bishop.  Although there are (spurious) claims to the contrary, he seems to have been sent to Ireland by no one other than God, and to have had more an Eastern influence than a Roman Catholic one, as demonstrated by his doctrine and practices.
• Although a major focus of his work was simple evangelism and church planting, Patrick also took seriously the confrontation of heresies such as Pelagianism and Arianism.
• In keeping with this resistance to heresy, the Trinity was a very important doctrine to Patrick.
• Green is not really associated with St. Patrick.  It was attached to the celebration of St. Patrick’s day by U.S. immigrants, likely due to the color’s connection with Ireland itself.  (Blue was traditional.)
• In some circles, you will find green associated with Roman Catholics and orange with Protestants, due to tradition surrounding  St. Patrick’s Day and its history during the Irish Rebellion.