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Patrick was born in the southwest of England around 400 AD. His given name was believed to be Succat. He later took the name of Patricius, a Roman name for Patrick. Calpurnius, Patrick's father, was a Roman official. Patrick's childhood would have been very comfortable as he grew up in a Roman villa.

While Roman influence was fading, raiders from Ireland were able to develop a slave trade, often demanding ransom for those they kidnapped. At the age of 15, Patrick was taken by such a group to Ireland. He was forced to work as a shepherd on the slopes of Slemish Mountain in County Antrim. After six years, an angel appeared to Patrick and urged him to escape from his master. He made a 200 mile trek to Waterford where he completed his escape. After arriving back home, Patrick trained as a priest. After a few years he was made a bishop. He had another vision in which the Irish people were begging him to return to Ireland. In the year of 431, Pope Celestine sent Palladius to be the first bishop of Ireland. Palladius died soon after his arrival.

Patrick soon followed and was to leave an indelible impact on his adopted country. He landed where the Slaney River flows into Strangford Lough in County Down. The charismatic Patrick was politically astute and knew the importance of making influential friends. His first conversion was Dichu, a local chieftain and a brother to the King of Ulster. Patrick preached his first sermon in Ireland in a barn donated by Dichu. This site is known as Saul (Irish for barn). It is claimed that Patrick converted thousands through out Ireland but Ulster was the real base for his work. Downpatrick, the Struell holy wells and Armagh were particularly important to him.

Patrick's travels were fraught with danger such as death, betrayal or a return to slavery. His survival depended upon his political skills and his ability to make influential friends who he often called upon to free him from robbers. The date of his death is unknown but is believed to have been between 460 and 490 AD. He was buried at a monastery near what is now Down Cathedral. The legend of St. Patrick grew quickly after his death. In 688 AD, he was elevated to the status of national apostle. All churches and monasteries were directed to honor Patrick's memory on March 17 with a spiritual ceremony. By 1607, the date had become officially St. Patrick's Day. John De Courcy, Lord of Ulster, had the remains of Patrick along with the relics of St. Columba and St. Brigid re-buried in the graveyard of Down Cathedral. De Courcy renamed the town Downpatrick, the fort of Patrick.

St. Patrick is not only the patron saint of Ireland but also of Nigeria. St. Patrick's Day is now celebrated worldwide.

St. Patrick's Bell

Saint Patrick carried a small hand-bell. Upon his death, the bell was lain on his breast. Sixty years after his death, Saint Columkill retrieved the bell from the tomb. It was considered a precious relic and was bestowed upon Armagh. It was placed in a shrine in about 1100 A.D.

The Mulhollan's were named keepers of the bell. When Henry Mulhollan died without heirs in the late 1800's, he willed the bell to his favorite student. The bell was given to the nation and is in the care of the Royal Irish Academy.

The bell of St. Patrick, which is more than fourteen hundred years old, is now in the National Museum, in Dublin. It is a type of the hammered-iron bells. Its height is 6 1/2 inches: but projecting from the top is a little handle 1 1/4 inch high, which gives it a total height of 7 3/4 inches. It is made of two iron plates, bent into shape by hammering, and slightly overlapped at the edges for riveting. After the joints had been riveted, the bell was consolidated by the fusion of bronze into the joints and over the surface - probably by dipping into melted bronze - which also increased its resonance. This is the bell known as Clog-an-uudhachta, or the 'Bell of the Will' (so called because it was willed by the saint to one of his disciples), which is much celebrated in the Lives of St. Patrick.