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St Patrick's Day
THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
There is considerable variation in dates given by various sources, so I have used the most common ones; one source gives dates that would mean St. Patrick lived to be 106!!
Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and also of Nigeria. He was born probably in Scotland (traditionally at Kilpatrick near Dumbarton) in 387 AD as Maewyn Succat and was of Romano-British origin, the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest (celibacy was not a requirement in those days) so he had a religious upbringing although, in later years, he admitted to paying little heed to religion at the time.
When he was about sixteen years old he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery in then-pagan Ireland and spent six years in captivity, working as a shepherd for a Miliucc, a chieftain who was also a Druid priest. He learnt the Celtic language and customs, which was to prove very useful in later years.
He had a vision, or a dream, in which an angel told him he must escape and return home, so he ran away and managed to persuade a ship sailing east to take him, and he eventually made his way home.