St. Patrick’s Day 2023: Who Was the Real St. Patrick?

Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

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Thank you for a great look in to our St. Patty’s story. 🙂

I am a little confused on the (approximate after all) dates though. On this page I read that he passed away around ~AD493.

Now – I keep coming up with AD ~386 for the year of his birth [+/- a year or three]. This makes me wonder about the date reported (~AD493) in this great write-up for his death.

The year I usually see tossed around is closer to AD ~461 …. putting his age at death around 75 years. I am not trying to be pedantic – I’m genuinely confused about this and don’t know which is (closer to) right. Having said that, this (Almanac) is the only page I have seen that puts St. Patrick’s death so near to the end of the fifth century, which doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. Among the other sources, most had the “feel” of religious sources, meaning they may originate from a singular religious info-source, thus reducing or negating the perceived reliability, blablah. . How certain are we here at Almanac of our research findings?

To be clear, I’ve not performed exhaustive searches, I’ve found about five separate sources that list his life as ~AD386 to ~AD461 or thereabouts, and this informative almanac.com entry 😉

Apologies for being “that guy” – but it is honestly a matter of me wanting to know. Perhaps Almanac.com researched more intelligently, or discovered some convincing documentation that supports the later date for St. Patty’s passing – I certainly don’t know who’s right. In any event, thank you for a thoughtfully presented and engaging article. 🙂

Stephen Sean
How

Unfortunately, the birth and death dates for St. Patrick are unknown. There are two writings from him that exist, but they do not list a date; however, the style of those letters (Letters to the Soldiers of Coroticus and Confessio) suggest the fifth century. Scholars believe that his death occurred in the later fifth century, but it appears that there may have been another Patrick who worked in Ireland around the same time and the dates between the two Patricks may have become tangled. This other Patrick—called the elder Patrick, Sen Patraic, Old Patrick, and similar names—is thought by some scholars to be the same person as Palladius. According to this theory, the elder Patrick died around 457 or 461. Based on newer interpretations of Irish annals, the second Patrick (the one who is celebrated on St. Patrick’s Day) is thought to have died around 493. Hope this helps!

We watch “The Quiet Man.” This year it’s showing in a theatre and we are going , dressed in green of course!

Did you know you should always plant your potatoes before St Patricks Day for them to flourish? Mine went in yesterday . Happy St Patricks day to everyone from Ireland

Years ago I read a story about calming some dogs on a ship by st Patrick but haven’t been able to find it since.has anyone else come across this story?

St.Patricks Day is a very special day as we celebrate my daughter’s birthday! We definately have the luck of the Irish in our household!

My grand daughter too. I’m part Irish and love the history of Europe, Asia and the islands around it.

The World mark the day of 17th March was the day for us to remember the Legend of St. PATRICK’S day, we will continue to pray for the rest of the world to keep us safe, green and healthy always, let us celebrate the greens moment with delicious healthy foods cooking by the chef’s recommended recipes for this event.

Yes, you stated in your article that St. Patrick “was successful enough to eventually bring an organized church—the Church of Ireland—into existence.” The Church Ireland is autonomous province of the Anglican Church, a Protestant church founded in 1871, well after the life of St. Patrick who died in 461! St. Patrick was a follower of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”, the Catholic Church. St. Patrick was made a Bishop by Pope Celestine in the year 432 and, together with a small band of followers, traveled to Ireland to begin spreading Christianity. Just wanted to set the record straight on that.
Sláinte chugat!