Everybody knows that St. Patrick (Padrig) is the patron saint of Ireland, but many don’t realize that he was actually born in what is now Wales. During the Roman occupation of Britain, many Britons converted to Christianity, and they were among the first to set out to preach Christianity to a pagan world.
St. Patrick, or Padrig as he is known in Welsh, was born sometime in the late 4th or early 5th century. He attests in his own writings that his birth name was Maewyn Succat and he was born in the town of Bannavem Taburniae. Many towns all over Britain claim to be Padrig’s birthplace, but the most credible is the village of Banwen, in Wales’ Dulais Valley. By his own account, when he was 16 years old, Padrig was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland. He later escaped and returned to Wales, where he became a cleric. He then studied in France before deciding to return to Ireland to teach the Christian religion.
While stories abound about his ministry in Ireland, he is remembered in Wales too, not only in Banwen. He is associated with the church of Llanbadrig, the Church of St. Padrig, which is located on the north coast of the island of Anglesey. Below the current church lies St Padrig’s Cave, where Padrig is said to have sheltered after being shipwrecked by a storm at sea on a nearby island. That island, Ynys Padrig (Padrig’s Island), is also known as Middle Mouse, and can be seen from a stile in the churchyard wall.
Having survived the wreck, Padrig founded the church, which claims to be the oldest church in Wales, dating to approximately 440 AD. The original wooden structure was replaced in the 12th century by a stone church.
It is somewhat ironic that the oldest Christian church in Wales was refurbished in 1884 by the 3rd Lord Stanley of Alderly, who had married a Spanish woman and converted to Islam. Thus, he altered the interior to reflect his new faith, decorating it with blue tiles, blue glazed windows, and Arabic-style iconography.
The refurbishment did not destroy the 12th century nave, nor a 9th century Christian gravestone which remains on display in the back of the church.
This shoreline is considered one of the most beautiful in Wales, and it’s nice to think that St. Padrig also recognized how lucky he was to have landed here.