Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland [Hardcover]

Maire B. de Paor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2002

". . . whoever is pleased to look at or receive this writing, which Patrick, a sinner, untaught, to be sure, has composed in Ireland . . . this is my Confession before I die."

Who was St Patrick? In the modern era his name still carries the aura of legend -- yet the truths of his life remain unknown to most readers. Now, in this new work of biographical reconstruction, Máire B. de Paor brings us as close as possible to the man behind the myth. Through a combination of painstaking research and a close reading of Patrick's two surviving works -- the Confessio and the Epistola, their texts included in full in this edition -- de Paor reveals a man at once poet and pilgrim, artist and apostle.

The story of St Patrick, known to many as the patron saint of Ireland, is as complex and mythic as the Irish culture he took as his own. Kidnapped at the age of fifteen, Patrick was smuggled to Ireland in a time of Christian upheaval in Europe. On the rocky coasts of his new home, Patrick adopted the life of a shepherd and the words of his Gaelic companions. At night, however, the Irish hills darkened to reveal the pagan gods and monsters so foreign to Patrick's Christian sensibilities. Patrick prayed for release for six years, only to return to evangelize his pagan captors.

Until recently, the modern consensus was that Patrick was a barely literate rustic struggling with a sense of inadequacy in a language he could not master. In her exhaustively researched biography, Máire B. de Paor uncovers the true Patrick as revealed through his two major literary works. Started as a defense against his accusers, Patrick's writings evolved into something more powerful -- a manifestation of the spirit that had gripped him. Set against a backdrop of the Catholic fervor of the fifth century, Patrick's words also reflect a fascinating time in religious history. As a religious figure, and as a captured slave, Patrick was the living embodiment of the conflict between the civilized Roman Catholics and the "dangerous heathen enemies of the Empire."

A scholar of exceptional depth and insight, de Paor examines Patrick's written legacy with refreshing vigor and passion and discovers an artist of astonishing literary skill and a man of great spiritual depth.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the fifth century, he was brought to Ireland as a slave and eventually became that country's patron saint. In Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland, scholar Máire B. de Paor gathers practically all there is to know about Saint Patrick and offers some ideas about how such a lowly character became such a celebrated one. To contradict the traditional view that Patrick was an unsophisticated, rustic character, de Paor provides close readings of the structure and scriptural allusions of Patrick's writings: the Confessio, similar in many respects to Augustine's Confessions, and the Epistola to Coroticus, the earliest surviving letter containing any record of Irish domestic life. Her analyses suggest that Patrick was a man of great literary ability and ambition. The theme in Patrick's writings that most interests de Paor is "his being an illegal alien on foreign soil, and ... God's fatherly care of him during that pilgrimage for Christ." It is a timeless Irish theme, one that animates all of the best Irish literature and surely underlies many of the most rowdy celebrations of St. Patrick's Day. --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author

Maire B. de Paor, PBVM, is an Irish religious scholar and a Presentation Sister. A native of County Waterford, Ireland, she has degrees from the University College Dublin, Maynooth, and a doctorate from University College Cork. She has published two previous books on Irish history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 2 edition (January 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060009020
• ISBN-13: 978-0060009021
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,152,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Work On This Fascinating Man, March 10, 2002

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John Alexander (Lake Elsinore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland (Hardcover)

Máire Bríd de Paor, an Irish religious scholar and a Presentation Sister, has simply produced the most compelling work to date on St. Patrick. This is a book which anyone truly interested in the topic must own, and an absolute necessity for any library worth its salt! Its exhaustive yet essential resources include the complete original text (and the best English translation to date) of Patrick's own words in his two surviving works - the Confessio and the Epistola. Through a thoughtful and compelling exposition of these works, de Paor leaves us feeling closer to Patrick, in his lifelong quest to emulate Christ. More than 1,500 years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi and Susan B. Anthony, St. Patrick was writing forcefully in favor of the end of slavery and the liberation of women. You'll read this marvelous book, savor it, refer back to it. It involves a bit of work, mind you, but with that investment, you'll be invigorated by the sheer power and energy of this great man, who reaches across the millenia with a message as fresh as when it was penned.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, though academic, May 16, 2003

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Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland (Hardcover)

In this fascinating book, Irish religious scholar Maire B. de Paor examines Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. In a scholarly manner, Ms. De Paor goes through Patrick's Confessio and Epistola Excommunicating Coroticus. Each line is examined in detail, producing a breathtaking amount of information about Patrick and his times.

As the above description suggests, this book was written for the scholarly reader, but it is not inaccessible to even the casual reader. Though the text is often exhaustingly academic, what makes this book well worth reading is that it is such an overflowing well of information on Patrick. And, I must say that I enjoyed the author's religious stance, treating Patrick's faith as alive, rather than a historical artifact.

So, if you really want to understand St. Patrick, then I highly recommend that you get this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenging but rewarding, April 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland (Hardcover)

The author has an obvious affection for Patrick, and I doubt you'll finish this wonderful book without growing to like him too. I recommend you read this book out of order: Start with the introduction (36 pages), and then skip to the back to read the author's translation of Patrick's two written works - his "confession" and letter to a roman officer. The rest of the book analyzes these two documents in light of the other facts known about this fifth century great.