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This weekend, millions will hoist a drink or two and toast St. Patrick, not knowing or caring his life had little to do with the legend we were taught and continue to celebrate to this day.
Historians tell us Ireland has never had snakes, so he didn’t chase them out. And that handy explanation of the Holy Trinity by holding up a shamrock? That was introduced centuries later.
He was British, enslaved in Ireland at 16, escaped back home, returning years later as a missionary, converting many to Catholicism. Never officially a saint, he’s nonetheless worthy of celebration. Sláinte.
– Chris Schroder, The 100 Companies