The Galway City Tribune this week carried an interesting article by Peter Rabbitte on the origins of the Patrick's Day parade in Galway. In 1903 a National Holiday Committee under the auspices of the Gaelic League, was set up and it attempted to implement the National Holiday with the voluntary closure of shops and businesses. "Voluntary" is probably the wrong word, since the names of those who refused or at least failed to close were published in the local newspaper and the people of Galway were, in effect, invited to boycott them! "It might not be to the advantage of the shopkeeper that breaks it!" said one report rather menacingly. 250 merchants, traders and employers of labour did volunteer closure and their names were published street-by-street. So, one hundred years ago today, on Tuesday March 17th, 1903 was the first public Civic celebration the Feast of St Patrick in Galway. Between eight and ten thousand people were on the streets of Galway by one o'clock. The procession made its way from Nile Lodge to Eyre square and finished up at the playing fields at the top of Bohermore where Gaelic matches were played. There the Gaelic League team defeated Queens College and Castlegar beat a selection from Bohermore. The weather was dry, so that all could enjoy themselves thoroughly. The whole day was remarkably quiet and not a drunken man was to be seen. In the evening a grand Irish play and concert was given in the Temperance Hall, which was packed. The report concluded on a prophetic note, (and why not!): The holiday was such a success that it will probably be a fixture for all time to come."
What we witness here is the beginnings of Patrick's Day as a national public holiday. The fact that the Gaelic League was instrumental in its inauguration tells us that Patrick is being recruited as a badge of identity by a particular ideology. As I wrote in the Missalette yesterday, this activity, while harmless or perhaps useful in itself, has little to do with the person or the life of the saint. Two works of St. Patrick survive to this day: His "Confessions" and his "Letter to the Soldier Coroticus". With these we get a fairly sharp picture of the type of life he lived; we also get a vivid picture of the type of character he was. He repeatedly transformed difficulties into opportunities. Patrick, the sinner, was embarrassingly honest about his shortcomings.
His Letter to the Soldier Coriticus has a distinctly modern ring to it. Coriticus and his soldiers had massacred a section of Patrick's flock. Patrick forwards his letter of condemnation. "In their hostile behaviour they live in death," he writes, "dripping with blood they wallow in the slaughter of innocent Christians, whom I personally brought into the life of the baptised and confirmed in Christ. These murderers are strangers from me and from Christ my God, whose ambassador I am. They are fierce wolves devouring the people of the Lord as they would devour bread." His words are as apt today as they were at the end of the fifth century.
His "Confessions" were written at the end of his life. His had been a rough life. At its close, he sought to put into words his trials and his struggles. Writing did not come easily to him. He does not express himself clearly when he describes inner feelings too deep for words. The halting style, however, communicates sincerity and realism. Smooth words, pious clichés or the conventional religious phrases of are nowhere to be found in his works. He wrestled with words in the same awkward way as he wrestled with hunger, cold, loneliness, and numerous hostilities on the slopes of Slemish.
Everything seemed unpromising at each stage of his life. Brought up in a believing family, he found himself admitting that he had not known the true God. Out of unbelief, he found a firm articulate faith. We learn, on reading his confession, that he found the Triune God a spiritual joy and inspiration. The trinity was not for him an abstract dogma but a reality who was living, forgiving, loving and true.
His loneliness brought him closer to God, with whom he found lasting companionship. His slavery, under a hard master, enabled him to discover the power of spiritual freedom. Kidnapped, robbed, insulted, injured, with his life frequently threatened and terrorised, he is able to write a confession which is laced with thanksgiving throughout a life of suffering.
The confession swiftly becomes a profession. The meaning of creed and conscience come alive; we perceive through the openness of his testimony that his sufferings were not destructive, but rather creative. Many, in later days of Christian history, have learned that suffering can strengthen love and cause faith to increase. The version of the Confession that we find in the Book of Armagh is heavily edited. Patrick's weaknesses proved embarrassing to some of his successors. Today, we are grateful that the whole story, warts and all, has been preserved on record elsewhere. The human Patrick, the frail Patrick emerges, despite his best efforts, a victorious figure.
No pride, no sense of achievement can be found in his writing. He gives God the glory. His prayers are so personal that they seem to be uttered by someone within him, a powerful personality working through him. The Holy Spirit is seen in operation in his life. Evil is overcome by love. His devotion to the people of God in their thousands won this self-confessed ignoramus and sinner the well-deserved title the 'Apostle of Ireland'. We are proud today to honour his name.
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