Sixteen hundred years ago, in Roman-ruled Wales, a well-off teenager called Patricius was ripped from civilisation and taken as a slave to serve king Miliucc, one of the many hundreds of Gaellic chieftains currently ruling over the rich and wild lands of the Irish. There were no Irish towns in 401AD, this was a vast land with a complicated society scattered throughout with farm holdings and war tribes who were ruled by the strongest -male, female it didn’t matter- and all subject to the whims and mysteries of the ancient spirits of the land.
Despite being cut off from most people in a foreign country and forced into the hungry, isolated life of a shepherd-slave, Patricius showed amazing resilience as he grew from boy to man in the cold and beautiful hills of Antrim. Never one for religion in his youth, he found himself developing a deep spirituality inexplicably centred around a faith in the Christian god, and his holiness helped him endure 6 years of lonely suffering. He found peace in his situation, but after hearing a voice in a dream that told him to “go and seek his ship”, he mustered the courage to escape from his bondage and find his way home. Easier said than done- he was deep inland between Lough Neagh and the mountains of Sliabh Mis- nowhere at all near the coast. ⛵️ Walking some two hundred miles from the inland hills of Antrim to the ocean, Patricius risked recapture and murder as he navigated the dangerous territory of his Irish captors. He somehow acquired money for passage on a ship and despite obviously being a slave, convinced the Irish sailors to take him with them to the European mainland- bad timing, since this was around the time the Roman Empire’s borders had fallen to a hundred thousand hungry Germans who were at that moment swarming across the continent ravaging everything in their path (407-8AD).
After several years of schrewd survival and some heaven-sent good luck, Patricius finally made it home to his adoring- and most likely gobsmacked- parents back in Welsh Britain. The Roman garrison had recently abandoned the isle (409AD) but Britain was still holding onto the structure of the old society. A Roman school drop-out like Patricius was completely unfit for any respected position in the soft and comfortable life of a Roman, and he found himself longing to return to the country where he was once enslaved amongst the strange, passionate, violent and beautiful people who called the Irish lands home. Despite abysmal holes in his interrupted education due to his years of enslavement, and possessing a very simple, sometimes embarrassingly awkward grasp of Latin, Patricius laboured for years in Gaul and finally attained a theological qualification to become a priest and a bishop, which set him up to do the unthinkable for any sensible Roman citizen- leave the ordered safety of urban life and head out to the people of the country-literally pāgānus in Latin, from which we get “pagan”- immersing himself in the world beyond.
No more a slave-shepherd to the Gaelic king and a qualified man of books, Patricius returned to the land that was once his prison with the full support of the Christian church, but his passion was entirely driven by love for the Irish people. His deep sympathy for the individual endeared him to the warrior people, and his genuine commitment to their happiness -physically in this world and spiritually in the great beyond- gave him widespread respect and acceptance among the violent Irish society. A former slave himself, he became the first person in recorded history to speak out strongly against the slave trade, which was -astonishingly- abolished in Ireland during or soon after his death (461AD). The next outspoken slavery reformers would not appear for another 1300 years.
Loyal, caring, cultural-accepting and fearless, Patricius won over the proud Gaelic people and instilled in them the value of education, at the same time convincing them the value of their immortal soul. Far at the edge of the rest of the world a new type of Christianity developed that was- for the first time in centuries- not intrinsically attached to Roman culture. Now truly an Irishman, Patrick also spoke out for the rights of women whom he recognised as often enduring a lot of the same treatment as slaves. During Patrick’s last 30 years of life, he influenced the development of education and peace throughout the recently-turbulent Ireland, even while the rest of Europe was hurtling into chaos as the Roman Empire well and truly fell apart.
Across the known world, barbaric people looted artifacts and burned the records of Western literature. The only place unaffected by the madness was the distant backwater kingdoms of Ireland. Patrick’s newly literate Irish Christians faithfully scribed everything they could get their hands on, holding it safely for the hundred or so years it took for Medieval society to establish itself amongst the smoking wreckage of the ancient world. Once the darkest age had passed, Western heritage flowed back into Europe through monasteries, although some of it now contained a distinctly Irish twist. ☘️ Most historians overlook this extraordinary near-miss of the 5th century apocalypse and the role the Irish had in preserving what was nearly lost. The humanity and extraordinary life of Patrick directly led to the existence of the Irish monks, who preserved and gave us back to the world the thousands of years of cultural heritage from the brink of certain destruction that it almost endured. So go and raise a glass and wear the colour green, if you will, but just remember to say a “cheers” for Patricius. Happy St Patrick’s Day.
(This story was written by me and any mistakes or inaccuracies are my fault. It is largely based on what I learned from the book “How the Irish Saved Civilisation” by Thomas Cahill)
Happy St. Patty’s Day what green crystals are you wearing today? #happystpatricksday #stpatricksday #crystalsofig #crystalsofinstagram (at Energy Muse)
Happy #stpatricksday! Here I am next to an #oghamstone. Want to see more cute pics of me in this outfit, learn more about Ogham Stones, or just impress your friends with some #trivia about #irishhistory while you’re at the pub tonight? Head to my website (link in bio). … *pst* this post is free ;) … #oghamstone #ireland #travel #miniskirt #skirt #snowflowerbikini #history #ancienthistory #archaeology #stpattysday #stpatricksdayoutfit #sheerbikini #countryside #barefoot #blondehair #blonde
The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish republican-Irish American organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O’Mahony and Michael Doheny. Members were commonly known as “Fenians”. They issued a bombastic proclamation in America announcing an imminent general rising in Ireland.
The flag is based on the American ‘Stars and Stripes’ It has four bars representing the provinces of Ireland and 32 stars representing the counties.
The Fenian Rising proved to be a “doomed rebellion,” poorly organised and with minimal public support. The Fenian Brotherhood itself, however, continued to exist until voting to disband in 1880.
Here’s something green for St. Patrick’s Day: the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)! Its signature color comes from its herbivorous diet, which includes seagrass and algae.
In fact, it’s one of the few sea turtles to mainly feed on vegetation. You might notice that its shell is brown; this is because its diet only affects the color of its fat. The reptile is big, too. It can grow to be as much as 4 feet (1.2 meters) and weigh a hefty 350 pounds (159 kilograms)! It has a wide range across tropical and subtropical waters and can be spotted in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Pacific Ocean.
WIP: Leprecat as it is St. Patrick’s day today! I made this guy somewhere in Spring 2020, hoping I’ll finish him until 2021 and you can see he’s still waiting for his cloths and the golden coins for his pot. But I can say I finally have all the materials to finish the guy and hope to do that in a few weeks I say hope because nowadays you cannot be sure in anything…
meanwhile you can support me via my Boosty (the link is in my profile) or share the info about my art with your friends, thank you!
Clover Queen is finished and can be adopted on my Etsy or Bearpile Links are in my profile.
All the cloths can be taken off and on. I’ve also made a special little stand for her so that she could be placed in all her glory. *** Please remember, shipping may take quite a long time for it’s still a holiday season and the pandemic is still here.
Irish Eyes on St. Paddy’s Day 2022 by Christina Saint Marche Via Flickr: I have Green Eyes. #Truth - got them from my mother. My guy tells me the very first thing he saw of me was my green eyes but, laughing, I know better. You see, I was getting out of my car and I wanted to make sure he saw those long legs sliding out of the open car door. Its like when a fisherman “chums” for a sailfish down in the islands. As that fish breaks water you simply know that with the right test line on your fishing pole you got a battle on your hands…and that is the pure pleasure of it all for a gal like me. The work of Allen Pierson posted first in 2021 and re-posted here today.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! . #latepost #verylatepost . This was a beanie I made last year that I never got around to posting. Next time I make something like this, I will make the pom poms 2x larger! . . . #stpatricksday #stpattysday #knitting #knittersofinstagram #yarnaddict #diy #artsandcrafts #makersgonnamake #arts #crafts #knitstagram #etsy #etsyshop #crafty #charmed #etsyseller #yarnpunk #fairisleknitting #etsysellersofinstagram #ravelry https://www.instagram.com/p/BvIbSvqFT8B/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12wuctiukea74
Hope you’re all enjoying a little more green today! #stpatricksday #chupacabra #goatsucker #cryptid #cryptozoology #art #paranormal #digitalart #pattern #green #wallpaper