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St. Patrick--Fact Versus Fiction, Part 2

© Lianne Bruynell Lopes

St. Patrick and the Snakes

"St. Patrick didn't really drive the snakes out of Ireland. They were going to leave anyway." Humorous though it is, this is partially correct. (See link below) The legend goes that St. Patrick drove all the snakes of Ireland into the ocean. In truth, to this day there are no snakes in Ireland, but St. Patrick didn't do it. There never were snakes in Ireland or any of the British Isles. But as a symbolism of the pagan religions prevalent before he arrived with the message of the Gospel, this driving out of the snakes could have been legend's way of showing the driving out of paganism through St. Patrick's ministry.

From the time this saint set foot in Ireland with the intention of conquering the pagan island for the Kingdom of God, fantastic things happened. But his ministry was not always easy. In fact, it started out tragically.

Deciding the first place to begin converting the Irish was with his former master, Patrick and his companions set out to the home of King Miliucc. The old king found out about his former slave's intentions, and set his home on fire, committing suicide in order to not convert. Devastated, Patrick arrived too late to save the king.

This initial setback did not stop St. Patrick. He gathered his followers and went to the seat of Ireland's high king, the hill of Tara.

It was the time of the Pagan festival of Beltane, the spring equinox, which coincided with Easter. In honor of Christ's resurrection, Patrick lit a large bonfire on the hill of Slane, in view of Tara. Law required no other fires but the high king's be lit in the vicinity, on the night of this feast. As soon as the king saw Patrick's fire blazing, he bounded off in a war chariot to arrest and kill the one who dared break the law. Again fact and fiction mingle at this point in the story. One version says that two druid priests accompanied the king, and by miracles at Patrick's command, both lost their lives. Others state that God sent an earthquake to help His messenger, and still others quote Patrick's eloquence as his salvation from the king's wrath. Whatever the truth, Patrick won the king's respect, and with it the right to preach the Gospel.

From there, Patrick went throughout the land, going first to the kings or noble leaders of the area, and after giving gifts of money or gold, spoke with them about God. In this way, he was able to win the right to speak to the commoners as well. Without putting the people on the defensive, Patrick was able to lead tens of thousands of the Irish to his Lord, Jesus Christ.