Patrick
A Briton taken to Ireland as a slave in his youth, who escaped and later returned as a bishop. His Confession and his letter to the soldiers of Coroticus are the main evidence for his life; his dates are uncertain.
Patrick says that he was the son of a deacon, Calpornius, from a place in Britain called Bannavem Taburniae, and that he was captured at about sixteen and taken to Ireland (Patrick, Confession 1). After six years as a herdsman he escaped by ship (Patrick, Confession 17). He returned as a bishop (Patrick, Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus 1) and writes of baptising thousands, ordaining clergy and travelling to places where no one had yet come to baptise (Patrick, Confession 50–51).
He gives no dates. The Irish annals, compiled much later, place his arrival in 432 and enter his death under both 461 and 493 (Annals of Ulster 432, 461, 493). The stories of his contest with the druids at Tara and his founding of Armagh are told in the Life by Muirchú, written some two hundred years after his time (Muirchú, Life of Patrick 1.15–21, 1.24).
In the timeline
- c. AD 432–461 or 493 (traditional), traditional datePatrick’s Mission to Ireland
Patrick, a Briton once enslaved in Ireland, returns there as a bishop and stays for life, baptising and ordaining clergy. Almost all that is known of him comes from his own two writings; his dates rest on annals compiled much later.
Primary sources
Confession
- Patrick, Confession 1confessio.ie
- Patrick, Confession 17confessio.ie
- Patrick, Confession 50–51confessio.ie