St. Patrick of Ireland

St. Patrick's Day is a popular celebration commemorating the life of a famous bishop who lived between 389-461 CE. When Patrick was only a teenager living in Roman Britain, slave traders captured him and sold him to an estate in Ireland where he herded livestock for six years. After escaping and returning to Britain Patrick was ordained and named successor to the first bishop of Ireland. Patrick relied on his cultural and linguistic experience to befriend a powerful native king at Armagh, establishing missions and monasteries throughout Northern Ireland. The island's inhabitants began exploring this new faith from the East, and several generations after his death Patrick's missionaries were still evangelizing native communities.

Sources: McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Saints: From Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa. New York, NY: HaperCollins, 2003. Pp 134-135.