Saint Patrick in Northern Ireland
by Seth Linder
On St Patrick’s Day, March 17th, over 50 million people around the world will celebrate the death of Ireland’s patron saint over 1500 years ago. There will be huge parades in Dublin and New York, in Chicago they’ll dye the river green and in New Orleans they’ll stage a massive street party where vegetables are thrown in friendly battle. In Moscow, the street where the parade is held has only otherwise been closed for revolutions. In Brazil, the day ends with the Irish Samba, a dance fusion created by the coming together of hip-swinging Brazilians and riverdancing Celts.
If, however, you want to experience the real story of St Patrick and enjoy the celebrations in his own backyard, there is only place to come – Northern Ireland and St Patrick’s Country!
You can retrace St Patrick’s footsteps throughout Northern Ireland, from Slemish Mountain in Co Antrim where he tended sheep as a 16-year-old slave to Slaney River in County Down, where he first landed on his crusade to convert the Irish to Christianity. Indeed, it is true to say that Northern Ireland contains nearly all the most important locations associated with St Patrick.
Where better to start than the old church in Saul, in the rolling hills of Co Down, on the site of the barn where St Patrick began his crusade to convert the Irish. This is the heart of St Patrick’s Country, a stunningly beautiful part of County Down which he seems to have thought of as home. From there it is just a three mile walk or so to the historic hillside town of Downpatrick, where the saint is buried at Down Cathedral, maybe stopping off at the ruins of St Tassach’s church at nearby Rahlop where he was given the last rites, or the atmospheric holy wells at Struell (Ireland’s first) where Patrick is said to have sung psalms all night, while naked!
According to tradition, St Patrick built the first stone church in what is now the city of Armagh, ordaining that it become the centre of Irish Christianity. Now the seat of Protestant and Catholic archbishops and globally famous for its two St Patrick’s Cathedral’s, Anglican and Catholic, it has proudly lived up to Patrick’s request. At St Patrick’s Trian (the Irish for three), is an exciting visitor complex which includes a fascinating exhibition on St Patrick’s arrival in Ireland and his life and work as revealed in the ancient, ‘Book of Armagh’.
In Downpatrick, in the heart of St Patrick’s Country, just a few hundred yards from his burial site at Down Cathedral, is the spectacular St Patrick Centre, which uses the latest technology to tell his story in film, video and sound in a thrilling interactive exhibition. A series of video displays, enhanced by sound cones - umbrellas of pure sound - cast the visitor into the heart of Roman Britain and pagan Ireland of the 5th century where they can follow Patrick’s extraordinary journey to convert the Irish.
It is a story that has been subject to much retelling over the years but this exhibition is focused very much on St Patrick’s own words, drawn from a confession made near the end of his life and a letter to a soldier. Both reveal fascinating clues to his life, personality and beliefs.