St. Patricks Day Unplugged: Noted Irish historian reveals the real story of Irelands patron

On March 17, over forty million Irish Americans and others worldwide celebrate the 1,500 year old legacy of St Patrick with parades and modern-day 'traditions, some of which perpetuate derogatory cultural stereotypes of the Irish. However, behind the crass frivolity of green beer and seasonal shamrocks lies a heartfelt message of goodwill and social justice, which is as compelling today as it was fifteen centuries ago.

(PRWEB) March 1, 2004 --
St. Patricks Day Unplugged: The real story of Irelands patron
by Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Ph.D.

On March 17, Irish people all over the world celebrate the patron who won the souls of their ancestors over fifteen hundred years ago. Celebrated in America since at least 1737, St. Patrick is still one of the most illustrious of the uncanonised saints in the Christian pantheon. An icon to schools and dance halls, public buildings and street names all over the world, his feast day marks a focal point in the cultural calendar of over forty million Americans who claim Irish heritage. And yet, despite the festivities and kitsch, there is much concern in the Irish-American community that modern-day 'traditions more often perpetuate derogatory cultural stereotypes of the Irish. As colorful parades make their way down international thoroughfares from Dublin to San Francisco, from Montserrat to Western Australia, the historic figure of Patrick himself remains mysterious. However, behind the crass frivolity of green beer and seasonal shamrocks lies a compelling humanitarian message of goodwill and social justice which is as valid today as it was fifteen centuries ago when it was first penned by a little known Roman cleric.

'Your Hungers Are Rewarded: You Are Going Home
Contrary to popular opinion, Patrick was not the first Christian missionary to work in Ireland. Trade relations between Ireland and Gaul (modern France) exposed the island to new spiritual influences. Likewise, the barbarian invasions into Roman Gaul during the early fifth century sent a stream of refugees and scholars to southern Britain and Ireland. Early Irish historians have argued incessantly as to whether there were two Patricks or one. There is also doubt as to when Patrick arrived in Ireland - whether it was in 432 or 456? It is certain, however, that he did arrive. This fact is confirmed by Patricks own writings and especially in his Confessio, considered to be the first contemporary text in Irish history. This private document was one of the key sources used by his biographers Muirchú and Tíreachán in the second half of the seventh century.

Patrick tells us that he was a native of Roman Britain, the son of Calpurnius, from the hamlet of Bannavem Taberniae. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was abducted by Irish pirates and spent six years in captivity herding sheep. His master Miliucc ruled over the barren uplands of Sliabh Mis. Here again, historians disagree. Some claim Sliabh Mis is in County Down, while others suggest that Croagh Patrick in County Mayo was the site of Patricks captivity.

During this period, Patrick turned to God and prayer and after six years of bondage, a celestial voice informed him that 'your hungers are rewarded: you are going home. He escaped to Gaul in a ship carrying wolfhounds to the continent. After some years in war torn Gaul, Patrick eventually returned to Britain and was implored by his parents not to leave them again. However, the mystic was soon revisited by more celestial voices. In the ensuing vision, the martyred Christian missionary Victoricus handed a letter to Patrick. According to the Confessio, this missive, headed Vox Hiberionacum ('voice of the Irish) implored Patrick 'to come and walk among us once more. After further visions, Patrick set out on his ecclesiastical journey, or peregrinatio, first to find a seminary, and eventually, back to his former captors. He attended a seminary on the island of Lérins, off the coast of present day Cannes on the French Riviera and upon completion became an ordained priest and bishop. However, it is clear from Patricks Confessio that his education was 'incomplete. He describes himself as 'the most unlearned of men;' yet, his writings display a deep sense of empathy with his fellow human beings and a strong commitment to social justice.

A Mission to the 'Irish believing in Christ
In 432, Patrick returned to an Ireland united by one language and culture and comprised of about 150 small kingdoms (tuatha). Each king (rí tuatha) owed allegiance to a more powerful overlord (ruirí), who in turn was under the protection of a provincial king (rí ruirech). While the Irish concept of kingship appears to have had some affinity with other Indo-European royalties, the early Irish world was tribal, rural, hierarchical and familial. The native Brehon law code was based on a complex set of social stratifications and varying degrees of protection and retribution. Its focus was the derbfine, or extended family claiming descent from a common great-grandfather.

According to his Confessio, Patricks mission was successful. He baptized thousands, ordained clerics everywhere, gave presents to the kings, 'lived in daily expectation of murder, treachery, or captivity, was put in irons and 'journeyed everywhere in many dangers, even to the farthest regions beyond which there lived nobody. His evangelical sincerity is reflected in his breastplate prayer that Christ be 'in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

One of Patricks greatest adversaries was Coroticus, a British king who pillaged the north of Ireland and carried off thousands of Patricks converts 'the chrism still fragrant on their foreheads. Patrick tried to have Coroticus condemned by the British bishops, hoping that isolation and excommunication would soften his resolve. The outcome of Patricks appeal is unknown; however, the saint seems clearly frustrated by the indifference of the British hierarchy. Basking on the dying embers of the Roman Empire, this clerical intelligentsia was asked: 'can it be that they do not believe that we have received one baptism, or that we have one God and Father? Is it a shameful thing in their eyes that we have been born in Ireland?

Although Ireland lay beyond the civilizing influence of Rome, the Latin scholarship, which Patrick brought to the Gaelic speaking Irish, took less than two centuries to usher in its own Golden Age of learning. By the early Middle Ages, Irish literati plied their scholarship from Iceland to Kiev and from Iona to the Mediterranean.

In this modern era, it is worth noting that both Catholic and Protestant traditions in Ireland embrace Patricks philosophy. Perhaps now, as the country enters a new era of peace and prosperity, we might revisit that philosophy again. After centuries of what the Ulster poet Michael Longley referred to as the 'abnormality of cultural apartheid in Ireland, it behooves Irish people everywhere to embrace the message of the abducted slave who could so easily have chosen to remain indifferent to their voices over fifteen hundred years ago.

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ABOUT GEARÓID Ó HALLMHURÁIN: Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin MBA, Ph.D. is the Jefferson Smurfit Corporation Professor of Irish Studies and a Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. An Irish historian, musician and anthropologist, he is a native of Co. Clare, in the West of Ireland and has lived in the United States since 1993. A recognized authority on the cultural impact of the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850) and its diaspora, Ó hAllmhuráin has been published in the Irish Times, Le Monde de Musique, and the San Francisco Examiner; and has contributed to ABC News, PBS, NPR, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Geographic, San Francisco Chronicle, St Louis Post-Dispatch, RTE, and Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irelands Gaelic-language radio network). An All-Ireland champion concertina player and piper, he performs throughout the US and Canada. His "A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music" (OBrien Press, Dublin, 1998) now in its 3rd edition and his musical recordings are available through Celtic Crossings, San Francisco. (www.celticcrossings.com)

© 2004 - Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Ph.D, St. Louis, MO
Tel: (314) 516-4256     www.gearoid.us    ; gearoid_ohallmhurain@umsl.edu
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