The date of St Patrick

Today it is widely accepted that St Patrick was born in Roman Britain and died in or around the year 493 AD. The estimated dates of existence for our patron saint are based largely on three sources: the Annals of Ulster, St Patrick’s Confession and Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus. The latter two sources are letters in Latin that have been attributed to St Patrick. Although these writings are undated, one passage includes a quotation which has been attributed to a 4th century translation of the Bible by St Jerome (commonly known as the Vulgate).

A pamphlet in the collections of Dun’s Library, RCPI, provides an alternative view. In The Date of St Patrick (published in 1932), Rev John Roche Ardill argues that St Patrick lived in the 2^nd century AD. St Patrick, Ardill asserts, used the Old Latin Bible, and not the Vulgate. Furthermore Ardill argued that as ‘St Jerome died in the year 420, and St Patrick is supposed to have come to Ireland in 432’.

According to Ardill, this short gap made it extremely unlikely that St Patrick would have read the Vulgate. Instead Ardill points towards evidence that suggests much earlier dates of existence for St Patrick, principally his seeming lack of knowledge of the Nicene Creed (originally adopted in 325 AD).

Although Ardill’s arguments were not approved by the academic community, they have certainly provided me with some food for thought as we head into the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. 

La Fhéile Phádraig Sona Daoibh!

Fergus Brady,

Project Archivist