Born in Roman Britain or in Scotland (Dumbarton) around 389 A.D. Real name Maewyn Succat (Succat means warlike.)  He was later baptized and called Patricius (which means noble.)  
  

At 16 years of age he was kidnapped by Pirates and sold into slavery  to Irish raiders. He spent his captivity (6 years) as a herdsman near the  mountain Slemish in county Antrim (according to tradition) or in county  Connacht (Connaught).  

The young herdsman saw visions in which he was urged to escape, and after after the voices in one of his visions told him where he could find a getaway ship, he was successful.  

He went to the northern coast of Gaul (France) where he was ordained a priest, possibly by Saint Germanus, at Auxerre.  At age 60, he returned to Ireland to spread the Christian word.  

It is said that much of his success was due to his winning personality.  His reported use of the shamrock as an example of the Trinity (father, son, Holy Ghost) led to its being regarded as the Irish national symbol.  

 Patrick was appointed successor to St. Palladius, first bishop of Ireland in 431, and was able to secure tolerance for Christians in Ireland during his life there.  

It is rumored that Patrick drove all of the snakes in Ireland into the sea by beating his drum (snakes were symbols of Paganism, so it was probable that he drove Paganism out of Ireland, not really the snakes.)  

He is said to have died in 461 and to be buried in Downpatrick.  St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin was built in the 12th century.  

Patrick's two surviving works are written in Latin and show his knowledge of the Vulgate(Latin) translation of the Bible. In one of these works, the  Confessions, Patrick portrays himself as a simple man in an unequal contest with the powerful and learned followers of church doctrine during his time.  

A strange chant of his, called the Lorica, is preserved in the Liber Hymnorum (Book of Hymns), and what was to have been a handbell he used during Mass is shown in the National Museum in Dublin.