In our continued effort to educate ourselves here is a blurb from Wikipedia.org on who St. Patrick is. Because I know I didn't really know (or care) before.
Saint Patrick (386ÂMarch 17, 493 AD, see below) is primarily known as the patron saint of Ireland (along with Saint Brigid and Saint Columba). He is also the patron saint of Nigeria (which was evangelized primarily by Irish missionaries, especially priests from Saint Patrick's Missionary Society (also known as the Kiltegan Missionaries)), excluded people, and engineers. He was born somewhere along the west coast of Britain in the little settlement or village of Bannavem of Taburnia (vico banavem taburniae in his Confessio), which has never been identified with certainty. Sites suggested include Dumbarton, Furness [1] and Somerset, or the coastline of Wales or northern France; another possibility put forward for his birthplace is the settlement of Bannaventa in Northamptonshire, for raiders captured him with "many thousands of people" according to Patrick's autobiographical Confessio, and sold them as slaves in Ireland. The tiny Welsh village of Banwen has often been suggested as his birth place. It was clearly occupied in Roman times, sitting on the Neath-Brecon Roman road and next to the two Roman forts in Coelbren.
For further info on St. Patrick check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick
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