Saint Patrick - mug

According to the Confessio of Patrick, when he was about 16, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Wales and taken as a slave to Ireland, looking after animals. He lived there for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

Illustration from an original by Margaret McKenna