St. Patrick and his ‘magical battles’ against the Irish Druids

Despite all his celebrity as one of the widely known Christian saints, St. Patrick’s life, which is celebrated in many parts of the world every March 17th of the year, remains much of a mystery to many including what many might consider his somewhat magical battles with the Irish Druids.

These power struggles, as lengthily elaborated by many writers and even published by the Franciscan COLGAN in the Trias Thaumarturga in 1647 and the Catholic Encyclopedia in Feb. 1, 1911, could have easily been a source for inspiration for many authors and artists even video game companies who are into creating video games involving characters with magical powers set off in the Middle Ages.

NewAdvent.org posted an article written by Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran and transcribed by Mary Doorley on the life story of St. Patrick including his little-known but very interesting encounters with the Irish Druids.

The first skirmish was when St. Patrick was abducted by Irish marauders and sold as a slave to a chieftain Milchu, a Druidical high priest, in Ireland who was hard on St. Patrick for six years. But St. Patrick escaped his clutches and returned to Britain to become a priest under St. Germain’s tutelage.

Divine power vs. Druid power

Later, St. Patrick and some other missionaries were tasked by Pope Celestine I to unite Ireland under One Christ. When they arrived on Irish soil, the Irish Druids attacked them and they fled to safer grounds.

Another Druid battle was on 26 March, Easter Sunday in 433 when a royal decree was issued that all fires in the land be extinguished until a blaze be kindled in the royal mansion.

But St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane on Easter Eve, discussed with the natives in their Celtic language the Resurrection of Christ and put up the Paschal Fire.

Chieftains and Brehons together with the Druids suddenly came in huge numbers chanting: “O King! Live forever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.”

But the Paschal Fire burned even brighter and Patrick shielded by the Divine power came unscathed from their sudden snares and assaults. It was the Druid forces’ turn to withdraw.

Sudden acceptance

The last magical battle between the two forces was when a huge dark cloud covered Ireland. St. Patrick challenged the Druids and the king’s magicians to remove it but failed. St. Patrick knelt to pray to God and suddenly the brightest sunshine lit up the entire skyline.

Unable to accept defeat, Arch-Druid Lochru used his demonic power of elevation and lifted himself in the air. But when St. Patrick again knelt down and prayed, the Arch-Druid Lochru’s body was grabbed by gravity so fast he fell off the pieces of rocks and died. It was the final blow against paganism and the Druids in Ireland.

Truly, St. Patrick’s life story may have been retold throughout the ages to the point of distortion mixed with some unbelievable mythological twists.

Still, nothing can change that one common thread -this saint dramatically changed not just the landscape of Ireland by putting up churches after churches, but the more difficult sudden shifting of a pagan mind’s paradigm to accepting Catholicism. A feat already ‘magical’ in itself.