How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe

Patricius (Patrick) was kidnapped from Romano-British society and forced into enslaved service as a shepherd toiling under a local chieftain called Miliucc. Isolated in the hills with his herds, Patrick took refuge in his Christianity. He escaped his enslavement to devote his life to religion after receiving a divine vision. He fled Ireland on a ship headed for Gaul, arriving around 407 CE, when the former Roman province was largely “deserted,” except for some newly-arrived Germanic-speaking peoples (104).

His Irish companions struggled to find resources in Gaul, prompting them to heed Patrick’s advice to pray to the Christian God, who would provide substance. Shortly thereafter, a herd of pigs appeared. Within a few years, Patrick returned home to Britain but was restless and unsettled. After a vision in which he was called to become a “voice” to the Irish, he embarked on his mission, despite his family's resistance.

First, Patrick made his way to Gaul to acquire the necessary religious education that his enslavement hindered. He was eventually consecrated as a deacon and then a priest before finally being ordained as a bishop. Cahill describes him as “the first missionary bishop in history” (107). Patrick followed in the apostle Paul’s footsteps, as Paul also claimed a divine mission inspired by a vision, and he filled a need for missionaries that had existed since Paul’s first-century travels.