St. Patrick was a Protestant say Loyalist leaders in Northern Ireland

Obviously Patrick wasn't 'protestant' since that happened 1000 years later in Henry VIII's time. Nor was he a 'catholic' which is a word meaning 'universal' or wholly-encompassing -- he was a Romanised Christian as Christianity was the Roman Empire's state religion. Whether he came to Ireland as a slave or a tax collector is irrelevant. When he arrived there was already a small number of Christians here (probably Copts from Egypt whose lifestyle was living as hermits) and Patrick was able to capitalise on that familiarity among the native Irish inhabitants. Indeed, Patrick lived a hermetic lifestyle himself, and it was only when he tried to convert others that he ran into trouble with the locals. In any event, the simplicity of Patrick, his oneness with nature, and his love of God, are the essence of all Christianity, so let everyone claim him and perhaps we can return to the more simple practice of worship.

St Patricks day is not celebrated as a holy in Ireland. We get a day off school and work, we go out and have a good time. Some of us have been out since Thursday night! Religion is not important today, its a festival of culture. The parades theme in Dublin today is Science as Dublin is the science capital of Europe 2012. Religion hasnt come into it at all.

@Buffalobrave: Actually many Protestant & Catholic clergy get on extremely well in Northern Ireland without any problems or threats from anyone whatsoever.

The debate isn't really about Patrick being a Protestant or not, obviously he wasn't a Protestant as defined by the much later reformation, although he was a bit of a dissenter. One thing is for sure, he didn't wear all the trappings of the catholic church that we see in depictions of St. Patrick, i.e. the bishops mitre & robes. These clothes are of medieval origin. The debate is really about the relationship between Protestants & St. Patrick. Although most Protestant denominations don't venerate saints, it is clear Irish protestants have always celebrated St. Patrick and his day. As i said before, the major St. Patrick's Day celebrations in America were started by Irish Protestants.

Doyathink: Well believe it or not what you have suggested has been tried. A few years ago a Protestant Pastor crossed the road to wish the local Catholic priest "A Merry Christmas" in a town in Northern Ireland. Guess what? The Protestant pastor was threatened by Loyalist thugs with his life for daring to wish well to a Catholic priest. Ulster Unionists politicians berated the poor paster as well. He now lives in the Republic of Ireland far away from the bigots!

pilib04 your mention of Durham Cathedral reminds me of a true story, when a bunch of feisty seniors from The Catholic Womens Guild went on an organised tour of it...at the end, the guide, a dean or something like, recounted the cost of maintaining the ancient building..so much for heat, so much for light,etc.etc., as his 'pitch' to get the group to make donations...one of the old ladies was heard to say 'I don't know what your complaining about, you got the b****er for nowt!'

Ireland of the 5th century was pagan. Read the life of St. Patrick and he describes nothing that would resemble Christianity. Druids inhabited the land.

I already knew that St. Patrick wasn't a Catholic, but that doesn't make him a Protestant either. The Celtic Church was later absorbed into the Catholic Church, just a short while after they introduced celibacy for priests. Protestants are members of churches that broke away from Catholicism, but the Celtic Church did the opposite. Mind you, Sinead O'Connor considers herself to be a (non-celibate) nun in the Celtic Church, but she's slightly barmy.

By the way, do the research, St. Patrick after being ordained was sent to Ireland with instructions from the Pope and his blessing.

I have heard this argument from a friend who left the Catholic faith for a fundamentalist "born again" church.Apparently this is the propaganda being used to recruit Irish into the fold. Anyone who has a smattering of knowledge regarding the history of Christianity knows that for over 1000(1058 and the schism of the Orthodox from Roman catholicism)there existed only one Christian faith, Catholicism. The reformation(and subsequent protestant denominations)did not come about until 1500 years after Christ established his one, universal church.

Yeah, I've heard this and several other arguments like it before. My favorite was the day we were able to visit Durham Cathedral in Durham, England. Imaging our surprise when we approached the Cathedral and found a sign in front proclaiming the Cathedral to have been built by the Church of England in the 11th and 12th centuries. There was no COI at that time!

I am from Northern Ireland and I prefer to think of St. Patrick as a Christian who brought Christianity to Ireland. I doubt he would think of himself as either Protestant or Roman Catholic. After all we all profess to be Christians so please let us not argue over St. Patrick.

Oh, for _____'s sake. The last time we took the kids to the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Scranton PA it all became clear to me; as the officer approached the outwardly drunken youth "Oh, lighten up it's Saint Patty's Day!". I realized that a feast day that we observed when I was a child had turned into an excuse to drink! What could I say, I told the kids that this is not the way we celebrate and that St. Patrick is very important to all of Irish descent. We celebrate with a nice dinner and family appreciation. I am much more concerned that St. Patrick is remembered as an excuse to get wasted than some other religion adopt our Saint. Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!

The Pope (Celestine I) who sent St Patrick as a missionary to Ireland, must be having a quiet smile at the very idea of Protestant marching to celebrate the Feast of such a great Catholic saint. Happy St Patrick's Day from Scotland!

Let's enjoy the day and celebrate this great non-English, non-Irish icon. What's really great is the fact that so many of today's youth, on both sides of the aisle could care less what religion St. Patrick was. Sadly, the less time in church and the more time with our fellow man seems to be much more spiritual.