The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick

The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick by James O Leary is a biography about a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland," he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigit of Kildare and Columba. Excerpt: "I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and least of all the faithful, and most contemptible to very many, had for my father Calpornius, a deacon, the son of Potitus, a priest, who lived in Bannaven Taberniae, for he had a small country-house close by, where I was taken captive when I was nearly sixteen years of age."