ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 81, 17 March 1933, Page 5

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

1440th ANNIVERSARY. IRELAND’S PATRON SAINT. To-day is the 1440th anniversary of the death of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. St. Patrick was born probably at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in" Scotland, his father being a Roman named Calphurnius, and his mother, Conehessa,’ of British origin, frjsh raiders carried him into servitude in Antrim at the age of 16, but he escaped, and became a monk at Tours, in France. He was ordained priest by St. Germain of Auxerre, was entrusted by Pope Celestine I. with the conversion of Ireland, and went to Wicklow in 433. In spite of hostility, he made- his way north to Antrim, and there met Laoghaire, King of Ireland, at Tara, where he baptised large numbers. He worked for seven years in Connaught, and preached in other provinces, founding numerous churches, religious houses, and bishoprics. A famous incident of his early labours was the plucking of a Shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of Trinity. Croagh Patrick, at Clew Bay, and the Island of Lough Derg, in County Donegal, were among his places' of retreat for meditation ami devotion. St. Patrick died at Saul, near Downpatrick, on March 17, 493.