Book Review: St. Patrick of Ireland by Philip Freeman

You really have to give Philip Freeman a lot of credit with this book - he manages to make a lot out of a little.

Outside of legend, apparently the only things we actually know about St. Patrick come from two letters he had written that are still known to us. Yet Freeman was able to weave together a complete book by exploring everything that would have surrounded St. Patrick throughout his life - and it is a fascinating story.

You might think that, as a Roman growing up on the west coast of Britain, the biggest event in Patricus's teenaged years would be the news that the city of Rome fell to the Visigoths. However, two more personal events hit Patricus much harder. The first is that we know that Patricus committed a deed deemed absolutely horrible that brought great shame on his family. There is no way of knowing what that deed was - although we know it was brought up again much later in his life in an attempt to shame him; Freeman explores many potential avenues and concludes that it was most likely idolatry. The second personal event is that teenaged Patricus was captured and enslaved by the Irish.

The Irish are often portrayed as poets, farmers, sometimes even warriors, but not very often as predators. Yet in one of the most eye-opening chapters of the book, Freeman explains how pirates living on the east coast of Ireland would launch raids into coastal towns on the west coast of Britain and take prisoner those who were not killed outright; after the two-day crossing, those prisoners would be sent all over Ireland as slaves. Not to be outdone, British pirates would likewise capture and enslave the Irish. At times, the Irish pirates would capture Irish slaves living in Britain; instead of being rescued, those Irish were more likely to become Irish slaves in Ireland.

At around 15 years old, Patricus was asleep in his coastal villa - with his parents in town, only his family's servants and slaves were with him. An Irish raiding party invaded his town, walked to his bed, and captured him. He would spend the next five years an enslaved shepherd in Ireland.

During his time in captivity, Patrick believed he heard the voice of God speaking to him, and went from being an atheist/agnostic to a full-bore Christian. One important note is that Patrick did have options; while Rome was mostly Christian (mostly in metropolitan areas), there were several religions available to a Roman in Britain, including the still-strong cult of Mithras. However, Patrick became a strident and loud Christian during his enslavement, and it paid off when the voice he heard guided him to a very rare escape from Ireland and return to Britain.

At some point after returning to Britain, Patrick decided to return to Ireland and spread Christianity. Not much is known about the decades between his return to Britain and his return to Ireland; Freeman devotes this chapter to a discussion about early Christianity in general and how someone would rise from layman to bishop. When Patrick returned to Ireland, it was in service to the first bishop of Ireland. That bishop failed to do much, and Patrick was named the second bishop of Ireland.

Although it is not stated explicitly by Freeman, it's made clear that part of Patrick's success came from his early understanding of marketing. He realized that Christian values appealed directly to two groups: women and slaves - and that converted slaves made the masters at least comfortable with the new religion since it preached serving a master on Earth as well as a master in heaven. He was also comfortable paying bribes to the many kings of Ireland (Freeman devotes an intriguing section on what life was like for Irish "royalty" and why there was no such thing as a "high king" at that time) so that he would be accompanied by royal family members in his travels, gaining credence for his religion. He also accepted no gifts or money from his flock - a kindness which landed him in great trouble with his parish back in Britain.

We don't know where Patrick grew up in Britain, we don't know where he tended his flock as a slave in Ireland, we don't know where he set up his church. We know very few facts about this future saint, but the legends surrounding him speak volumes. And credit must be due to Freeman for taking only a skeleton of a story and fleshing it out into a fascinating book. Recommended - seven out of ten hot dogs.