Is the story of St. Patrick true?

Question

The one about him killing the druids and stuff? Because if thats so then why would a real irish person (I'm talking about someone who cares that they are irish all year around and not just on St. Patricks Day) celebrate a holiday dedicated to him? If it is true I don't think I will celebrate it ever again because thats horrible. It would be like having a St. Hitler day and celebrating the holocaust.

Answer 1

The problem is it was a long long time ago so it's hard to say how many people died, etc.

But he was a missionary sent in to convert people to his faith. That can get messy.

He lived during tumultuous times where not all the people involved were completely blameless in their actions.

Wiki has a good article:

Answer 2

Happy Hitler day, everyone! Sorry, couldn't resist, hope no one's offended by that.

Anyhow, I'm sure the story of Patrick is exagerated and or warped with myth by now. Oh, and I never celebrate that day, I always don't remember those holidays, there's too many. =)

"why would a real irish person (I'm talking about someone who cares that they are irish all year around and not just on St. Patricks Day) celebrate a holiday dedicated to him?"

Many Irishmen believed in Christ through that. I'm not saying it's a good thing he killed anyone, mind you, just as the crusades weren't good, but some irishmen believed, and when england held control over there, it kinda became mainstream.

It's sad that people are forced into believing, it should really be by faith and willingful choice as God said, and the church obviously fights against this. Hence protestants, or Christains, as you know that word, and Catholics, and other segregrations in the church. Many people follow the word of the Lord, and allow freedom of religion. (Else you'll all believe, or at least pretend you do =))

Answer 3

No it is not true. He did not kill the druids, nor did he banish snakes from Ireland. St. Patrick is celebrated because he brought Christianity to Ireland in a time when Protestants lived in the area. Ireland had been under English rule for hundreds of years. He was a slave and a shepherd. He escaped to England, and returned to Ireland a few years later after he had converted to Christianity himself. He is regarded as the patron saint of Ireland because he is solely responsible for Christianity. As an Irish born Catholic myself, I have actually been to the mountain top where he built his church. It is still used today for mass. The snakes story is just a myth. There have never been any snakes in Ireland because it is a small island, and it is unlikely that snakes would have been around when Ireland broke off of the European mainland billions of years ago.

Answer 4

Give Juniper C the best answer. I would have posted but she said what I was going to.

To answer your question: "why would a real Irish person (I'm talking about someone who cares that they are Irish all year around and not just on St. Patrick's Day) celebrate a holiday dedicated to him?"

Because most people, especially USA residents have not been taught the proper history of their heritage. Most schools force Christian beliefs on their students and they end up ignorant of thief heritage.

It's not their fault they celebrate a day dedicated to murder, because they don't know any better.

Answer 5

Of course such plenty Irish human beings do not imagine that it really is truly actual. And the reason that there are literally not any snakes in eire isn't something to do with climate. There are snakes in Britain, and there are in the same way chilly blooded lizards in eire (even inspite of the undeniable fact that they are rare). eire grow to be separated from Britain on the end of the ice age. At that factor no longer the entire animals of england had migrated to eire. truly eire has best about one third of the community species of england. There are literally not any moles both, for representation.

Answer 6

he was a slave, st. patrick, enslaved by the romans. I thought he was italian and not english there, bud. nice try, tho, luv. grins. heard about the snake myth, was famed to have taught the meaning of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) being three separate yet unified entity by using a shamrock, thus the shamrock being a symbol of ireland and st patrick

Answer 7

St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, what in the world are you talking about?

Answer 8

I heard St. Patrick rid the snakes from Ireland, and thats is why they celebrate him. Although both are probably just tales. I don't think they would celebrate him killing the druids - they would hate him for that wouldn't you think? although IDK just an opinion.

Answer 9

ST. PATRICK & THE DRUIDS OF IRELAND
by Flame RavenHawk

Patrick was a Christian priest whose job it was to convert the population of Ireland to Christianity. The Druids, however, stood in his way. The Druids were very important people in Ireland at that time, and their symbol was the Snake of Wisdom. Druids could be priests of the old religion of Ireland, but there were also much more.

One part of the Druid class were the "Bards", whose job it was to remember all of the history of the people, as well as to record current events. Because the Irish Celts did not rely on a written language, everything had to be memorized. Bards were poets and musicians, and used music and poetry to help them remember their history exactly. Because of this, Bards were highly respected members of the Irish society. The Irish believed that history was very important, for if you didn't remember what had happened in the past, you couldn't safely plan for the future. Bards, therefore, held the future of the people in safekeeping.

Another important part of the Druidic class were the "Brehons", sometimes called Ovates. Brehons were the Judges and the Keepers of the Laws. The Celtic people had a highly complicated society, and with it, a highly developed set of laws. Brehons trained for many years to learn the laws of the people, so that whenever there was a dispute, the Brehon could fairly decide the matter and make peace. The laws were there to make sure that everyone; man, woman, and child, were treated fairly and with respect. Because of the wisdom that the Brehons held, and the knowledge of the laws of the society, they too, like the Bards, were held with much respect.

And, of course, there were the Druid Priests. This branch of the Druid set were the keepers of the knowledge of Earth and Spirits. It was their responsibility to learn the Spirit World, in order to keep people and Earth in harmony. Priests performed marriages, funeral rites and "baptisms", they were healers, and psychiatrists. The Priests were the wise grandparents to whom you could go with a problem. They were there to help you solve them, with the help of the Earth and the Spirit World.

Into this world of the Irish Celts entered a highly energetic and devoted Christian Priest named Patrick. Because he believed so strongly in the tenets of Christianity, he thought that anyone who was not Christian had to become one in order to be "saved". He came to Ireland to convert the Irish people to Christianity.

The Irish people at that time were happy and doing quite well without Patrick and his ideas, but he was persistent. He noticed that the Druids were really the important people of the society. He thought that if he could convert the Druids to Christianity, the rest of the people would follow. Patrick's main problem was that the Druids were very comfortable with what they had already learned, and were not willing to change. Druids had spent their entire lives learning the ways of the people, and were the last people who were willing to change.

Although Patrick was not willing to abandon his vision of a Christian Ireland, he was getting desperate. He knew that because the strength of the people rested with the Druids, he had to get rid of them in order to get the people to listen to him.

Patrick was not alone in his efforts. He had brought many people with him from Britain to establish the new religion. Patrick began to destroy the influence of the Druids by destroying the sacred sites of the people and building churches and monasteries where the Druids used to live and teach. Gradually, the might of the Druidic class was broken by a bitter campaign of attrition. Instead of hearing the teachings and advice of the Druids, the people began to hear the teachings of Rome. Because the Druids were the only ones who were taught to remember the history, with the Druids dead and their influence broken, the history was forgotten.

Patrick won. By killing off the teachers and the wise ones, his own religion could be taught. For this mass conversion of a culture to Christianity, and for the killing of thousands of innocent people, Patrick was made a Saint by his church.

Today the story is told that Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland because he "drove the snakes out". We now know that the "snakes" were the Druids. So although I love the Irish people and celebrate their Celtic heritage, I don't "celebrate" a day dedicated to the man called Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland.

***

A Druid on Patrick's Sainthood

I won't march in your drunken green parades,
nor think of your name when I spy clover;
I'm tired of these cruel lies and the charades -
it won't be my eyes your wool pulls over.

For I am of the breed of snakes you fought
and drove from Erin's shores in ignorance,
when with a blessing of my blood you brought
your cursed words of sin to my Beltane dance.

You stole my history, my country's soul,
and yet, your patriarchal leaders boast
that somehow you redeemed our sacred isle.

May your eyes be lain with live, burning coal;
in the Hell you created may you roast.
I shall think of that scene in March, and smile.

BY John Litzenberg

Answer 10

Maybe, but it makes for a possible great Peter Jackson movie