PATRICK, St, the apostle of Ireland, and the second bishop of that country. He was born on the 5th of April 373, of a good family, at Kirkpatrick, near Dumbarton, in what is now called Scotland, but was then comprehended under the general denomination of Britain. His baptismal name signified, in the British language, valiant in war. During some inroad of certain exiles from Ireland, he wa⅛ taken prisoner, and carried into that kingdom, where he continued six years in the service of Milcho, who had bought him of three different persons, whence Patrick acquired the name of Cothraig, or Ceathar-Tigh, that is, four families. Here he made himself master of the Irish language, and at last, having effected his escape, returned home on board a ship. About two years afterwards, he formed the design of converting the Irish; and, the better to qualify himself for this undertaking, he travelled on the Continent, where he continued thirty-five years, pursuing his studies under the direction of his mother’s uncle, St Martin, bishop of Tours, who ordained him deacon, and afterwards under St German, bishop of Auxerre, who ordained him priest, and gave him his third name of Mawn or Maginim.

An ancient author, Henricus Antisioderensis, who wrote a book concerning the miracles of St German, considers it as the highest honour of that prelate to have been the instructor of St Patrick. “As the glory of a father shines in the government of his sons,” says he, “out of the many disciples in religion who are reported to have been his sons in Christ, suffice it briefly to mention one by far the most famous, as the series of his actions shows, Patrick the particular apostle of Ireland, who being under his holy discipline eighteen years, derived no little knowledge in the inspired writings from such a source. The most godly divine pontiff, considering him alike distinguished in religion, eminent for virtue, and stedfast in doctrine; and thinking it absurd to let one of the best labourers remain [7:17:143]inactive in the Lord’s vineyard, recommended him to Pope Celestine, by his presbyter Segetius, who was to carry to the apostolic see a testimonial of the ecclesiastical merit of this excellent man. Approved by his judgment, supported by his authority, and confirmed by his blessing, he set out for Ireland; and being peculiarly destined to that people as their apostle, instructed them at that time by his doctrine and miracles; and now does and will for ever display the wonderful power of his apostleship.” Lastly, Pope Celestine consecrated him bishop, at the same time giving him his most familiar name of Patricius, expressive of his honourable descent, and to impart lustre and dignity to the commission which he now charged him withal for converting the Irish. Palladius had been there a year before him upon the same errand, but with little success; and the saints Kieran, Ailbe, Declan, and Ibar, were precursors both of Palladius and of Patrick. But the great office of apostle of Ireland was reserved for our prelate, who landed in the country of the Evolein, or at Wicklow, in the year 431. His first convert was Sinell, eighth in descent from Cormac king of Leinster; but not meeting with encouragement, he proceeded to Dublin, and thence to Ulster, where he founded a church, afterwards the famous abbey of Saul, in the county of Down. After labouring seven years indefatigably in this great work, he returned to Britain, which he delivered from the heresies of Pelagius and Arius; he then engaged several eminent persons to assist him, and visited the Isle of Man, which he converted in 440, when the bishopric was founded; in the year 448, he returned to the see of Armagh, which he had founded three years before; and in thirteen years more completed the conversion of the whole island. After giving an account of his commission at Rome, he once more returned to Ireland, and spent the remainder of his life between the monasteries of Armagh and Saul, superintending and enforcing the great plan of doctrine and discipline which he had established. After having established schools, and an academy, he closed his life and ministry at Saul Abbey, in the 120th year of his age, on the 17th of March 493, and was buried at Down, in the same grave with St Bridget, and St Columba the apostle of the Picts. Respecting his burial-place, however, there have been great disputes; and it has been a subject of as much debate with the religious, as Homer’s birth-place formerly was amongst the cities of Greece. Those of Down lay claim to it, upon the authority of the following verses:

These three in Down lie in tomb one, Bridget, Patricius, and Columba pious.

Those of Glastonbury, in England, found on the old monuments of their church; and some Scotch writers affirm that he was both born and buried at Glasgow. His genuine works were collected and printed by Sir James Ware, 1656. His immediate successor in his see was St Binen or Begnus.

Order of Sτ Patrick, an institution which was founded in Ireland in the year 1783. On the 5th of February in that year, the king ordered letters patent to be passed under the great seal of the kingdom of Ireland, for creating a society or brotherhood, to be called “knights of the illustrious order of St Patrick,” of which his majesty, his heirs and successors, were to be sovereigns, and his majesty’s lieutenant-general and general governor of Ireland for the time being to officiate as grand master; and also for appointing Prince Edward, and several of the prime nobility of Ireland, knights companions of the said illustrious order.

Patkick, Simon, a learned English bishop, was born at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire in 1626. In 1644 he was admitted into Queen’s College, Cambridge, and entered into holy orders. After being for some time chaplain to Sir Walter St John, and vicar of the church at Battersea in Surrey, he was preferred to the rectory of St Paul’s, Covent Garden, London, where he continued all the time of the plague in 1665 amongst his parishioners. In 1668 he published his Friendly Debate between a Conformist and a Nonconformist. This was answered by the Dissenters, whom he had much exasperated; but by his moderation and candour towards them afterwards they were perfectly reconciled to him, and he brought over many of them to the communion of the Established Church. In 1678 he was made dean of Peterborough, where he was much beloved. In 1682, Dr Lewis de Moulin, who had been professor of history at Oxford, and had written many very bitter books against the Church of England, sent for Dr Patrick upon his sick bed, and made a solemn declaration of his regret on that account, which he signed, and it was published after his death. During the reign of King James, the dean’s behaviour showed that he had nothing more at heart than the Protestant religion, for which indeed he ventured all that was dear to him, by preaching and writing against the errors of the Church of Rome. In 1687 he published a prayer composed for that difficult time, when persecution was expected by all who stood firm to their religion. The year after the Revolution, the dean was appointed Bishop of Chichester, and was employed with others of the new bishops to settle the affairs of the Church in Ireland. In 1691 he was translated to the see of Ely, in the room of the deprived Bishop Turner. He died in 1707, after having published various works, amongst which are his Paraphrases and Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, in three vols. folio, which, with Lowth on the Proverbs, Arnold on the Apocrypha, and Whitby on the New Testament, form a regular and continued commentary in English on all the sacred books. z