Happy St Patrick's Day

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
Happy St Patrick’s Day to you all!

Just_M has asked me to give you an item on St Patrick's Day. As far as I am aware, I don't have an ounce of Irish blood in my veins, but perhaps the fact that I live in Northern Ireland gives me the necessary credentials.

A few blogs recently have dealt with Ireland, so I will be a bit more general in my approach and, in the eyes of some people, a bit controversial!!

OK – based on information found on the internet, what do we know about St Patrick?

He was born in -

England (Cumbria)
England (Somerset)
France
Scotland
Wales

The year of his birth was in or around -

337 AD
337 – 340 AD
373 AD
385 AD
between 387 - 390 AD
415 AD

The year of his death was in or around -

454
17 March 460
17 March 461
between the year 460 and 490
somewhere between AD 463 and AD 493
493

He lived to be –

88 years old
120 years old

He died in -

Saul, Downpatrick
Glastonbury, England

Right - we have numerous birthplaces, dates of birth, dates of death and places of death, and that is from a brief search of the internet – there are probably many more answers to the questions posed.

Where does this lead us?

It leads us nowhere – everything that is written about St Patrick is, to a certain extent, conjecture.

I think it is certain that the individual now known as St Patrick was an actual person (unlike King Arthur in England, where the majority of writings are made up of myth and legend). However, we will never know exactly who he was or when he lived.

Now let’s relate this to our family trees.

Do you think you can trace YOUR tree back to Adam & Eve? If so, think again ... if the history of a person like St Patrick cannot be traced with any accuracy, how on earth can you say that you have the family back to ‘day one’? And, when exactly was ‘day one’?

Consider these points -

Have you never hit the problem where, in the church records of a particular area, two people have the same name?

How do you follow the family prior to the existence of church records?

What happens earlier when surnames were not used? – In England, it was not until the reign of Edward II (1307 - 1327) that the practise of using surnames became general.

How do you follow the family from one country (or continent) to another? – There were no such things as ship’s list back then.

So, if you still subscribe to the ‘I am back to Adam & Eve’ theory, look at your ancestors again – check the verifiable information – it is unlikely that the majority of people in the UK can get back past the beginning of church records in 1538, let alone anywhere near Adam & Eve, where it is necessary to chart them through numerous countries!

Rosey