
"... whoever is pleased to look at or receive this writing, which Patrick, a sinner, untaught, to be sure, has composed in Ireland... this is my Confession before I die."Who was St Patrick? In the modern era his name still carries the aura of legend -- yet the truths of his life remain unknown to most readers. Now, in this new work of biographical reconstruction, Máire B. de Paor brings us as close as possible to the man behind the myth. Through a combination of painstaking research and a close reading of Patrick's two surviving works -- the Confessio and the Epistola, their texts included in full in this edition -- de Paor reveals a man at once poet and pilgrim, artist and apostle.The story of St Patrick, known to many as the patron saint of Ireland, is as complex and mythic as the Irish culture he took as his own. Kidnapped at the age of fifteen, Patrick was smuggled to Ireland in a time of Christian upheaval in Europe. On the rocky coasts of his new home, Patrick adopted the life of a shepherd and the words of his Gaelic companions. At night, however, the Irish hills darkened to reveal the pagan gods and monsters so foreign to Patrick's Christian sensibilities. Patrick prayed for release for six years, only to return to evangelize his pagan captors.Until recently, the modern consensus was that Patrick was a barely literate rustic struggling with a sense of inadequacy in a language he could not master. In her exhaustively researched biography, Máire B. de Paor uncovers the true Patrick as revealed through his two major literary works. Started as a defense against his accusers, Patrick's writings evolved into something more powerful -- a manifestation of the spirit that had gripped him. Set against a backdrop of the Catholic fervor of the fifth century, Patrick's words also reflect a fascinating time in religious history. As a religious figure, and as a captured slave, Patrick was the living embodiment of the conflict between the civilized Roman Catholics and the
This biography investigates the historical reality of St. Patrick by reconciling the mythic figure of Irish tradition with the primary evidence found in his own surviving writings. Máire B. de Paor utilizes a rigorous academic approach to analyze the Confessio and the Epistola, arguing that Patrick was a sophisticated, albeit conflicted, figure rather than the uneducated rustic often portrayed in historical literature. By situating Patrick within the context of fifth-century religious and political upheaval, the author reconstructs his life as a slave, shepherd, and eventual evangelist.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts and historians recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of early Irish Christianity due to its focus on primary source analysis. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a scholarly alternative to popular, myth-heavy accounts of the saint's life.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2002-01-22
Publisher:
William Morrow
ISBN-10:
0060009020
ISBN-13:
9780060009021
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