Did St. Patrick really chase the snakes out of Ireland?
Or is that story just a bunch of blarney?
According to the tale - way back in the fifth
century the legendary priest raised his staff and banished the reptiles into
the seas surrounding the Emerald Isle.
Save
for those in captivity it is true that Ireland has no snakes. But this current condition has less to do
with religious tradition and more to do with geologic history and events dating
many millennia ago. Following the
retreat of the last glaciers some 15,000 years ago Ireland was devoid of
snakes. Surrounded by icy waters - to
this very day snakes cannot swim or find their way there and as a consequence
Ireland remains snake-free.
That’s too
bad as I'm half Irish and have a particular fondness for snakes. The bigger the better. Like this dandy five foot long Western Fox
Snake.
click on the snake to enlarge
I also like a good saint when I
see one and St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish.
Patrick was born of aristocratic blood in Britain probably around the
year 390. The legend says that he was
not particularly religious. At age 16 he
was kidnapped into slavery was forced into life as a sheepherder in
Ireland. It is held that it was during
this time that he found God and became a believer.
As the story goes he began hearing voices and
the voices instructed him to flee. Which
he did. Patrick eventually found his way
back to Britain and his family. But the
voices returned commanding him to return to Ireland. He was ordained a priest, went back to
Ireland and spent the balance of a rather difficult life converting the pagan
Celts to Christianity.
He died on March
17, 461 and was promptly forgotten.
Nevertheless,
over many years faithful conviction and belief in the story of Patrick
grew. And he grew ever larger after his
death than he did in real life. Hundreds
of years after the fact he was honored as Ireland’s patron saint.
So on March 17th we gather to pay homage to the saint
that banished the snakes from Ireland.
It is said that on this one day of the year everyone is Irish.
Since I have real Irish blood coursing
through my veins I intend to raise a glass of Guinness and toast my ancestors
and Saint Patrick. I will ignore the
part about the British connection.
Speaking
of Guinness - according to the Guinness people somewhere around 5.5 million
pints of Guinness stout are consumed world-wide each and every day. On St. Patrick’s Day that will grow to 13
million pints. Drink responsibly people.
Sláinte!
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