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The Legand of St. Patrick
Patrick is most known the world over for having driven the snakes
from Ireland. Different tales tell of his standing upon a hill, using
a wooden staff to drive the serpents into the sea, banishing them
forever from the shores of Ireland. One legend says that one old serpent
resisted, but the saint overcame it by cunning. He is said to have made
a box and invited the reptile to enter. The snake insisted the box was
too small and the discussion became very heated. Finally the snake entered
the box to prove he was right, whereupon St Patrick slammed the lid and
cast the box into the sea. While it is true there are no snakes in Ireland,
chances are that there never have been since the time the island was
seperated from the rest of the continent at the end of the ice age. As in
many old pagan religions serpent symbols were common, and possibly even
worshipped. Driving the snakes from Ireland was probably symbolic of putting
an end to that pagan practice. While not the first to bring Christianity to
Ireland, it was Patrick who encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished
their pagan rights. He converted the warrior chiefs and princes, baptizing
them and thousands of their subjects in the Holy Wells which still bear
that name. According to tradition St. Patrick died in A.D. 493 and was
buried in the same grave as St. Bridget and St. Columba, at Downpatrick,
County Down.
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