Saint Patrick Retold Saint Patrick Retold the legend and history of ireland’s patron saint roy flechner prince ton university press prince ton & oxford Copyright © 2019 by Prince ton University Press Published by Prince ton University Press 41 William Street, Prince ton, New Jersey 08540 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR press . princeton . edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Control Number: 2018962693 ISBN 978-0-691-18464-7 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available Editorial: Ben Tate, Hannah Paul, and Charlie Allen Production Editorial: Karen Car ter Jacket Design: Faceout Studio, Derek Thornton Production: Erin Suydam Publicity: Tayler Lord and Katie Lewis Jacket Credit: St. Patrick Climbs Croagh Patrick, 1932 (oil on canvas), Clarke, Margaret (1888–1961) / Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Ireland / Bridgeman Images This book has been composed in Arno Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of Amer i ca 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Illustrations and Maps vii List of Abbreviations ix Preface xv Introduction: Patrick of Legend and of History 1 1 Patrick’s Britain 29 2 Patrick’s Ireland 61 3 Captivity 94 4 Religion in Britain and Ireland 119 5 The Missionary Life 154 6 Imagining Patrick in the Middle Ages 183 Epilogue: Remembering Saint Patrick 218 Cited Scholarship and Further Reading 237 Index 261 v Illustrations and Maps Illustrations 1. Th e four Evangelists from the Book of Armagh. 8 2. R emains of Roman villa at Great Witcombe (Gloucestershire). 39 3. L ittlecote Roman villa (Wiltshire), Orpheus mosaic. 40 4. I rish penannular brooch. 70 5. R econstruction of Ptolemy’s map of Ireland (2nd century ad). 75 6. M aiden Castle hillfort (Dorset). 139 7. N eolithic passage tomb at Newgrange (County Meath). 143 8. M ap of Saint Patrick’s Purgatory on Station Island. 225 9. S hrine of Saint Patrick’s Bell, National Museum of Ireland. 227 vii viii Saint Patrick Retold Maps 1. S ome population groups, provinces, and significant places in late antique Ireland. xii 2. S ome Roman towns, settlements, and population groups in Britain. xiii