PEOPLE: ST PATRICK

The namesake of St. Patrick's Day wasn't Irish. The patron saint of Ireland, whose name was Maewyn, was born in Roman Britain in the 4th Century. In his Confesio writings he called himself patricius, Latin for "well-born." From that came "Patrick." He was a self-described pagan until age 16, when Irish raiders kidnapped him and took him to Ireland as a slave. He converted to Christianity after six years as a herdsman there. He eventually escaped back to Britain, but returned after a dream wherein God told him to return to Ireland. He devoted the rest of his life to converting the Irish to Christianity and eventually became a second bishop of Ireland. [Source: Biography magazine, March 2001]