Who was Saint Patrick?

E.A. Thompson pieces together the story of his life, drawing his evidence from the only real clues that exist, Patrick's own writings, not from the later Lives. He reveals him as coming from a well-to-do nominally Christian family in Britain, being captured by Irish raiders and forced into slavery in Co Mayo, converting to a most earnest Christianity, and eventually escaping from Ireland to the fulfilment of his calling. As a bishop, he is shown to have been a man of profound originality, and his writings -- his Confession and his Letter to Coroticus -- further display his character. It is no surprise that a host of legends became attached to his name, and the biography is completed with a look at some of those early legends. (From the cover)