Audio Script
St. Patrick: Myths and legends
March 13, 2015听听听听听听听 Patrick Tally
听听听听听听听听听听听 He wasn鈥檛 even Irish and yet St. Patrick could be considered the most famous person from Ireland.
听听听听听听听听听听听 St. Patrick was born in Britain. At 16 he was captured by Irish raiders and held as a slave. He escaped several years later, became a priest, returned to Ireland and, according to CU-Boulder historian Patrick Tally, dedicated his life to convert the Irish to Christianity.
CUT 1听 鈥淗e made it his life鈥檚 work to go back and convert the Irish. There were already some Christians in Ireland but very few. At the time, most Irish people were polytheistic and did not believe in Christianity.鈥� (:12)
听听听听听听听听听听听 And while St. Patrick did succeed in converting many Irish to Christianity, he wasn鈥檛 the only successful missionary in Ireland at that time, says Tally. 听But after his death, Tally says, his legend grew beyond compare.
CUT 2 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛, as far as we know, the most successful of all the missionaries. He was pretty successful. He establishes lots of churches. He converts lots of people, but there are other people that did just as good of a job but they aren鈥檛 remembered in quite the same way. (:15) It was after his death the myth of him was built up. And so the legend sort of grew up and he became, in the early medieval period, the patron saint of Ireland through retelling of legends about him.鈥� (:28)
听听听听听听听听听听听 Stories such as St. Patrick using the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy trinity might be true, says Tally, but the legend that he banished all the snakes from Ireland with only a wooden staff at his side, can鈥檛 be true since there have never been snakes in Ireland.
CUT 3 鈥淎nd there are many legends about what he did -- driving the snakes out of Ireland -- there never weren鈥檛 any snakes in Ireland. But it means driving out the pagan religion. It鈥檚 a metaphor for driving the snakes out of Ireland. (:14) And teaching the trinity of one god, three person鈥檚, he used the Irish shamrock which is, of course, one plant with three leaves.鈥� (:24)
听听听听听听听听听听听 According to the latest reconstruction of the old Irish annals, St. Patrick died in A.D. 460 on March 17, a date accepted by some modern historians but difficult to prove since there is no documented proof. Legend has it that St Patrick is buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba, although this has never been proven .
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