Customer Reviews

Discovering Saint Patrick

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Written by a theology lecturer at the University of Wales, Lampeter, Discovering Saint Patrick is a religious and biographical study of Saint Patrick, that strives to understand as much as possible about his life, his impact on history, how he influenced the development of Irish Catholicism, and much more. Thoroughly researched, drawing heavily on original sources as well as directly from scripture, Discovering Saint Patrick approaches the life and times of the famous saint with a scholarly eye for detail and as much corroboration and verification as reasonably possible. A welcome contribution to church libraries and biographical collections of holy figures, and a "must-read" for anyone who is curious to understand what St. Patrick's Day is really all about.

Thomas O'Loughlin is a professor of Historical Theology at the University of Wales Lampeter. His review of St. Patrick is traditional in many regards so it is a great opener for someone who is not as well-read about the Life of Patricius. He provides a translated version of Patrick's own account of his life known as the "Confessio" and Patrick's scathing "Letter to Coroticius."

O'Loughlin's contribution to the wealth of Patrician texts is that he examines some of the statements made by Patrick to try and understand how Patrick saw himself in space and time. He concludes that a number of passages in the "Confessio" indicate that Patrick saw himself on the edge of the World and on the precipe of Judgment Day. In fact, he suggests that one of the primary reasons for writing this piece was for Patrick to convey his own theology to those who might be concerned about what he was teaching.

Like most biographers before him, Dr. O'Loughlin either consciously or unconciously seems to compare Patrick with a biblical motif by alluding to St. Paul in the context of discussing Patrick's life. This is not uncommon for modern historians of Late Antiquity to do this. Peter Brown very blatantly and pointedly makes sure that his readers know that in his opinion Patrick is the "Irish Paul."

The writing is accessible and is quite dynamic though not as alluring as the writing of Philip Freeman. However, while I am sure that Freeman was well researched in his book "St. Patrick of Ireland" he includes no sources or citations. O'Loughlin handles this professionally and includes the voluminous material that he poured over to learn about Patrick which provides a student with a wealth of material. It seems that due to some of the opening of statements that O'Loughlin is a proponent of Peter Brown's interpretation of the early medieval period and his section on the dossier of a saint really sat the stage for his book.

All in all, it is difficult to criticize this book and his original thought and excellence of research shines through very clearly. He makes no speculation as to what the sin of "Patrick's youth" might have been as Freeman does. He does not paint an unrealistic picture of Patrick and neither does he diminish Patrick's acheivements. One thing that I really liked about O'Loughlin the most is his overall approach to Late Antiquity. In the beginning of the book he states that studying the past is like a trip to foreign country where people do things differently there. All in all this work is well done.

The author does a nice job of sorting thru the eveidence to reach what he thinks are the correct conclusions of Patrick's life, based on a very limited amount of evidence. he is judicious and fair. easy to read.

O'Loughlin has produced a remarkable book upon St Patrick, included are the two authentic writings of St Patrick. The work is fresh, scholarly and insightful. I recommmend it to all those who are interested in examining the legacy left to the WHOLE Christian Church by St Patrick. His missionary zeal is a remarkable example to modern day Evangelicals.

The perfect place to start if you want to learn about St. Patrick or early Irish Christianity. O'Loughlin is the best scholar in the world on this subject, but his books are easy to read.