You may never have heard of him, but we owe him a deep debt of gratitude.
Luke Wadding is the man we can all thank, praise or blame for making St. Patrick’s Day the day it is.
Wadding, a Co. Waterford native born in October 1558, was a Franciscan priest ordained in 1607 and sent as chaplain to Rome in 1618.
He soon began raising funds for an Irish college for clerical students to study for the priesthood. He had accumulated great power in Rome and succeeded in his quest.
It opened in 1625, and Wadding became head of the Irish College there for decades after.
A fierce Irish nationalist, he had no time at all for the British and their occupation of Ireland.
He strongly supported the Irish Catholic uprising in the war of 1641, and his college became a hotbed of opposition to the British. Wadding sent soldiers and arms to Ireland, and persuaded Pope Innocent X to send Archbishop Giovanni Rinuccini there as his representative.
Rinuccini went with a huge quantity of arms, including 20,000 pounds of gunpowder and a large sum of money to help the Irish rebels who he hoped would declare an independent Catholic Ireland.
Alas he failed in his task, partly because of internal Irish strife (what’s new?) and returned to Rome in 1649, leaving Ireland at the mercy later of Oliver Cromwell, who crushed the Irish rebellion.
Efforts were made to make Luke Wadding a cardinal, but his enemies prevented it.
He was by far the strongest advocate of the Irish cause in Rome and met several popes to push it. He was so effective that generations later his spirit lived on in the Irish college.
In the late 19th century Sir George Errington was sent by British Prime Minister William Gladstone to Rome to explain the Irish question and ask for support for the British position.
He came back empty handed, explaining that the Irish politicians in Ireland were utter moderates compared to priests and staff at the Irish College.
Wadding succeeded against all the odds in making St. Patrick’s Day a feast day, after which it was wholeheartedly embraced by the Catholic Church, making it a worldwide day of celebration.
Though the day had been observed from around the 10th century, Wadding was the one who put the power of the church behind it.
His legacy has come down the ages to us.
In 1900, his portrait and part of his library were placed in the Franciscan convent on Merchant's Quay in Dublin and his life story was written by Francis Harold, his nephew.
So spare a thought for Luke Wadding this St. Patrick’s Day. Without him we would likely never have the grand occasion we celebrate this week.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.IrelandNorth | Mar 19, 2013, 12:05 PM EDT
jacersagain! The Welsh (the original Britons) are symbolically excluded from the union jack. Their national flag is green and white surmounted by a red dragon. Interesting point you make re Saint Brighid's cross, though it could be considered somewhat swatika-esque. (I wouldn't go placing it on a white circle against a red background). Perhaps it unconsciously influenced the Saint Patrick's Cross in the union jack, since it appears peculiarly off centre and disoriented.
Frosty38 | Mar 19, 2013, 11:48 AM EDT
Very interesting
seanomelb | Mar 18, 2013, 11:47 PM EDT
scientific knowledge is fine show me aopostolic evidence with the science to prove it. You're more of a fool than I thought you were
jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 11:06 PM EDT
And Seano's mono culture of atheistic disbelive is honest? - dismissing the wealth of scientific and Apostolic evidence to the contrary? Someday, Seano's children and Granchilden will discover how wrong he is. I hope he finds so too before he expires his last breath.
seanomelb | Mar 18, 2013, 07:25 PM EDT
Citzen69 I was married in the Pressy church and my children were educated at a grammar school so you see your mono-culture remark is silly. Just keep cherry picking and sounding nonsencical.
jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 03:58 PM EDT
If Wadding hadn’t pushed for St. Patrick, then maybe we would have St. Brigid’s Day, or St. Columba’s (or Colmcille’s) Day. If I had a choice for a national holiday, I would go for dropping St. Patrick on March 17th and Brigid (February 1st) which dates tends to be cold and wet like yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day and opt for Columba who’s feast-day is June 9th, a much warmer time of year in Ireland and nicer too because all the summer flowers are blooming then.
jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 03:46 PM EDT
cillowen... Mea culpa, you’re right. St. David is not represented on the UK flag. I was once given to understand that one of the white crosses (diagonal or vertical/horizontal, I forget which was mentioned), was the Welsh cross but that info was wrong, so thank you for the correction. Don’tcha think the Welsh would be screaming out to be represented on the Union Jack?? I think we Irish should bloody well be screaming out for St. Patrick’s cross to be taken off it... if that happened, there’d be plenty of room for a cross of St. David. >> St. Columba of Ireland is also known as St. Colmcille, who apart from his mission in Scotland, also founded monasteries in Derry, Kells and in the town of Swords (in Irish called Sórd Colmcille) near Dublin Airport. He is, like St. Brigid, reputed to be buried in the same grave as St. Patrick is in Downpatrick, Nth Ireland. There was an ancient Irish prophecy that the three saints would one day lie together and so we have the famous words: “In Down, three saints one grave do fill – Patrick, Brigid and Colmcille”.
cillowen | Mar 18, 2013, 09:59 AM EDT
By the way the UKer's Union Jack does not have a symbol for St David for Wales - they as a people are buried within England's St. George made up thingie. The Welsh are the only people with a saint born of one of their own St David. St Patrick was taken from Severn Valley Wales as a slave one who magically fell in love with the land that took him. Greater love had no man such as he, who came back to teach the Irish. The Scots and English took some saints from middle east and claimed them. Prior to Reformation the Scots had Iona's famed St Columba of Ireland as their close at home saint before hating set in. Who knew?
cillowen | Mar 18, 2013, 09:43 AM EDT
So spare a thought for Luke Wadding this St. Patrick’s Day. Without him we would likely never have the grand occasion we celebrate this week. - WHY NOT FROM HERE ON OUT.
jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 08:20 AM EDT
As an afterthought Curitiba - imagine what St. Brigid's uniquely-shaped, straw-coloured cross would look like on the United Kingdom's national flag instead of St. Patrick's red diagonal cross...
jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 08:05 AM EDT
Thanks to Curitiba for funny question... if we didn’t have St. Patrick’s Day as you ask, well... why, we’d have St. Brigid’s or St. Columba’s Day! - complete with all the same mishmash of celebrations plastered in green, white and orange. Why doesn’t England celebrate St. George’s Day, or Scotland St. Andrew’s Day or Wales St. David’s Day in the same fun-filled way we Irish do? After all, the crosses of St. David, St. Andrew, St. George and St. Patrick fill the UK’s national flag!
IrelandNorth | Mar 18, 2013, 06:20 AM EDT
Not for the first time I've learned something about my own country I didn't know. That's what I like about IrishCentral. It very often gives a refreshing perspective of one own hinterland that those living here can't see the wood for the trees. Thanks Niall and all at Láranach Éireannach/Irish Central!
CitizenWhy | Mar 18, 2013, 01:20 AM EDT
It was the group in Ireland known as The Old English who were most ardent in support of the Pope during the Protestant Reformation. They organized the rebellions in favor of the Popes. Many of the leading Celtic families were ambivalent, some welcoming a reform of the monasteries and the church. The Old English won over most of the leading Celtic families to their cause, but not the O'Biens.
fergalf | Mar 17, 2013, 07:00 PM EDT
Citzen69, I know some commenters can be a little intemperate but there is absolutely nothing about Luke Wadding which is offensive to protestants or Unionists. In fact many would be grateful to him for raising the profile of St Patrick who is their patron as well.
citizen69 | Mar 17, 2013, 06:52 PM EDT
This article is typical of Irish Central's insensitivity and disrespect to Irish Protestants. And same old Seanmelb I see, smearing everyone as anti-Irish who doesn't fit into his narrow-minded little mono-cultural perception of Irishness.
seanomelb | Mar 17, 2013, 05:56 PM EDT
Citizen69 cherry picking events to to suit his anti-Irish bent.
fergalf | Mar 17, 2013, 05:06 PM EDT
@citizen, Th rising of 1641 was widely supported by the Irish people. It was supported as it was an act of self determination by a people who had been robbed of their land, their leaders and their culture. There were massacres on both sides but murder was never the intention of the rising as a whole. So its not fair to say that if someone supported the rising that they condoned murder. Luke Wadding is a figure who deserves enormous credit.
citizen69 | Mar 17, 2013, 04:42 PM EDT
@misswhisp: I'm referring to Luke Wadding not St. Patrick.
citizen69 | Mar 17, 2013, 03:52 PM EDT
@jimgordo1: Two wrongs don't make a right. I don't expect to see an article here praising someone who supported the slaughter of Catholics. Nor do i expect to see an article praising someone who "strongly supported" the slaughter of Irish Protestants. These Protestants didn't get killed in battle either. It was slaughter of settlers; Men, women and children. Around 15,000 Protestants died horribly because of it, more than 20% of protestant settlers in Ulster.
Curitiba | Mar 17, 2013, 01:49 PM EDT
If St Paddy's day wasn't celebrated, what would the big Irish celebration center around instead? The date of independence? Partition? Or would we say make the 12th of July a national holiday with competing marches Irish and Orange marches!
jimgordo1 | Mar 17, 2013, 01:22 PM EDT
citize69 you need to read your Irish history. The Protestant British landlords threw their Catholic Irish tenants off their holdings to make way for Protestant tenants. They may not have killed them in battle, but they sure as hell massacred them. So, don't complain about Protestants being killed by Catholics who revolted. Once again, read your history.
cillowen | Mar 17, 2013, 12:29 PM EDT
nice knowing of such greats who were visionaries and proud.
connemaragirl | Mar 17, 2013, 11:34 AM EDT
You can Google Fr Luke Wadding and learn more about him if your interested,let your key board do the research.
citizen69 | Mar 17, 2013, 10:41 AM EDT
So he supported the massacre of thousands of Protestants in Ireland in 1641?? No thanks, I'll leave him forgotten.
JimmieM | Mar 17, 2013, 09:19 AM EDT
Well I'd have to say Thank You Father Wadding
handsome68 | Mar 17, 2013, 09:13 AM EDT
In this article, we read of this worthy man in 1691, when he would have been 91 years old, yet are not informed about his year of death. And too, the article states: "In 1900, ..... , his life story was written by Francis Harold, his nephew." Since you write about this noted person who most likely died in the very late 1600's, might one know the year the nephew wrote his uncle's biography? Good writing is careful writing.