St Patrick in Irish folklore

What makes Patrick a saint is the overall thrust of his life. And that thrust can readily be gleaned from two surviving writings namely, his Confession and Letter to Coroticus. In these letters three key elements stand out: his life lived in union with Jesus Christ who is not only his Saviour and Lord but his closest and often his only friend and companion. Patrick considers that every person is of absolute value to Christ, and it is his ambition to transform every human mind and heart into the likeness of Christ.

The traditional view states Patrick, a saint of the 5^th century, arrived in Ireland in 432 and died in 461. An alternative view contends that his Irish mission was a generation later, from 456 to 493. He was not the first Christian missionary to bring the faith to Irish shores, but he was the most influential. 

There is little reference to Patrick for about 200 years after his death. Then in the late 7^th century, two biographies of the saint were written, one by Muirchú, reputedly a man of the cloth from Armagh, and the other by bishop Tíreachán from Tirawley in north Mayo. A third Life, Bethu Phátraic dates to the late 9^th century.

Tíreachán concentrates largely on Patrick’s activities in the upper Shannon basin and north Connaught. Tireachán and Muirchú, especially Muirchú, draw on a common source namely, an account of Patrick compiled by St Ultan who died in 657. Ultan was abbot of Louth monastery in the village and county of that name. The monastery was founded around the 5^th or 6^th century by Mochta, also known as Mochaoi or Nendrum.

Patrick not only converted and baptised Mochaoi, but also taught him how to read the Latin alphabet. He must have been a particularly bright student because it is claimed that within a  year, he was an authority on the bible. Because of Mochaoi’s close association with Patrick, the monastery of Louth treasured not only his two letters but the considerable corpus of lore that had grown up around him.

According to Muirchú, the druids foretold that Patrick would convert the country to Christianity. To dramatise his story, he introduces a standoff between King Laoghaire and Patrick over the Paschal fire on the hill of Slane. There are echoes of the Book of Exodus in the text, Laoghaire and Patrick mirroring the Pharaoh and Moses. When the druids’ magical spells proved to be damp squibs, they declared that in contravention of Laoghaire’s law, the fire that was lit on Slane was there to stay: “unless it is extinguished on this night in which it was lit, it will not be put out forever.”

Muirchú says that Patrick went on a reconciliation mission to Miliuc by whom he had been enslaved. On hearing of such an impending encounter Miliuc panicked, made his own funeral pyre of his belongings and valuables and set fire to the lot. On hearing of the tragic outcome of his effort to meet Miliuc, Patrick fell silent for three hours and then declared that none of the chieftain’s descendents would succeed him.

Both Muirchú and Tíreachán record the ‘test by fire’. For the test, a special house was designed and built. One half was of freshly hewn timber and the other of dry wood.  A druid was installed in the less flammable portion and St Benin in the other. The house was set alight, and the druid went up in flames while Benin remained unscathed.

That story went viral and is associated with saints in many parts of Ireland. In Tullylease, County Cork, for example, the same story is told of a druid and St Berihert. After the house was set alight the druid with his clothes on fire was seen streaking towards the River Allow, while Berihert was observed to be sitting in the ashes of the house reading his breviary. 

On another occasion when Patrick sought a hilltop site near Armagh for his monastery, Dáire, the wealthy landowner assigned him an inferior plot. To make matters worse Dáire’s stable boy let a horse graze on the monastery plot despite Patrick’s remonstrations. The horse died and in consequence Dáire decided to kill Patrick, but it was Dáire who actually died.

Two men were sent to Patrick, not saying that Dáire was dead but that he was ill and needed something from the saint to restore his health. Patrick gave the messengers some holy water that restored both Dáire and the horse. Dáire was essentially a decent man. He gifted Patrick with a magnificent cauldron and later inquired what Patrick said on receipt of the gift.

He said “Grazacham” replied the servant.

“No more?” said Dáire.

“No more,” said the servant.

Thinking that he had given the cauldron to a right amadán (fool), Dáire sent his slaves to repossess the gift.

“What did he say this time?” inquired Dáire.

He said “Grazacham.”

So intrigued was the wealthy man that he personally delivered the cauldron to Patrick commending him for his patience and, for good measure, Dáire threw in the hilltop which Patrick had sought, the very spot on which Armagh is built. And what of ‘Grazacham’? Apparently the Latin ‘grates agam’ (‘let me give thanks’) was a favourite expression of the saint.

In the folk tradition, Patrick is known for blessing one place and cursing another. Such references reflect the bias of the author. It is said in Cork for example, that “St Patrick never visited Kerry.” When Patrick visited a tavern, he noticed that the landlady was giving short measures to all her customers. 

Taking offense, Patrick said to her that the devil in the form of an ugly beast was hiding in the cellar and growing fat on her dishonesty. She pleaded with the saint to banish the horrible beast. “You’ll have to do that yourself by mending your ways,” said Patrick.

A year later when he visited the same tavern, he noticed that the glasses of whiskey were served full to the brim and overflowing. Patrick took the landlady to see the fat devil in the cellar but he was little more than skin and bone, and at the sight of Patrick he vanished in a flash of lightning.

In memory of the repentant landlady, Patrick said people should always have a shot of whiskey on his feast day. In olden times this drink was flavoured with shamrock, hence the term ‘drowning the shamrock’ or ‘wetting the shamrock’. That tradition, together with others such as wearing shamrock, banishing the snakes, using the three-leaf shamrock as a catechetical aid, don’t appear in the folk tradition prior to the late 17^th century.

Dr John J O Riordáin CSsR, a member of the Redemptorist Community in Limerick, is passionate about the Early Irish Church. In addition to Early Irish Saints and Irish Catholic Spirituality: Tradition and Transition and other full-length works, he has written a series of short books on Irish saints and their pilgrimages. Reality. Reprinted with permission.

Footnote: Saint Patrick’s Day will be celebrated on Friday March 17.