Despite being the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick is actually thought to have been born in Wales towards the end of the fourth century. While exact dates are still uncertain, he’s thought to have been born around the year 385 AD. His real name was Maewyn Succat.

When he was a teenager, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold to an Irish farmer in the county of Antrim. Here, he was treated like a slave and forced to look after sheep and pigs on a lonely hill. He suffered hunger and neglect here, and eventually turned to God and Christianity to combat this suffering. He was kept here for six years and turned to the Bible and prayer for comfort.

One night, he heard the voice of God in a dream, who told him to escape from this mountain and go to a harbour, where there would be a boat waiting to help him escape and take him home. With his newfound powerful faith, he trusted the voice and made his attempt to escape. He made it to a harbour and was allowed on to a ship, where he found his way home.

He continued to pray to God and eventually became a priest at a monastery in Tours, France. Furthermore, he worked his way up to becoming a Bishop, before returning to Britain. At the time, Ireland was a Pagan country that didn’t follow Christianity, and Patrick wanted to change this, so he returned to Ireland to teach them about God and the faith. When he arrived in Ireland trying to spread the word, he was first met with lots of resistance. Eventually, he managed to spread his teachings through preaching, baptisms and writing.

He recognised that there were many Pagan spiritual beliefs and practises that had already taken hold across Ireland. He incorporated some of these rituals into his form of Christianity – many believe that Saint Patrick introduced the Celtic Cross as a combination of Pagan sun-worship symbology with the traditional Christian cross.

He is also thought to have used the Irish shamrock as a parable, where each leaf of the Shamrock represents one part of the Holy Trinity. This is the trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. For the next 60 years, Saint Patrick travelled around Ireland, spreading the word of God and the Catholic faith. He congregated over 350 Bishops during this time to help complete this work.

He eventually died on 17th March in the year 461 AD, supposedly in an area now known as County Down. This date is now celebrated across Ireland (and elsewhere) as St Patrick’s Day.