St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and an important religious figure in the Christian world. Surprisingly, much of the information about him has been made up by storytellers throughout the ages.
Patrick was born in Britain in the 5th century. When he was sixteen, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave to a rich farmer in Ireland. He became very religious.
After six years, he fled home to Britain. Here, Patrick became a priest. He returned to Ireland after he had a dream that the Irish people were calling him to come back and convert them to Christianity.
For 30 years Patrick traveled across the Irish countryside to spread the word of God. He succeeded in converting almost the entire population of the island.
There are many stories about St. Patrick that involve miracles and magic.
One of the most famous legends is the tale that St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. It is said that he stood on a hill and used a wooden staff to drive the snakes into the sea. To this day, there are no snakes in Ireland. Experts say, however, that there were probably no snakes at any time!
It is believed that St. Patrick died on March 17, which is the day St. Patrick's Day is celebrated each year.