98 Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 



foreign, which place the death of the Irish Apostle in Ireland, on Wednesday, 

 the I7th of March, in 491, 492, or 493, to be abandoned as groundless forge- 

 ries ? If so, the whole history of the propagation of Christianity in Ireland 

 would be thrown into utter confusion, and it would be difficult to place con- 

 fidence in any thing written on the subject. On the other hand, should the 

 existence of a second Patrick, subsequent to the former, be allowed, it would 

 also necessarily follow that much, if not nearly all that has been written respecting 

 his life, more properly belongs to the former Patrick, and has been fraudulently 

 given to the second for the purpose of investing him with the honor of the apos- 

 tleship of Ireland, It is not, however, as already stated, the object of this memoir 

 to establish any conclusion, but to furnish such facts as may be of use to others 

 who may apply their minds to this interesting subject ; and, as the evidences have 

 been given in favour of the former conclusion, it will be proper also to add an 

 analysis of the authorities on which the latter rests. 



Assuming then that there was a second Patrick in Ireland in the fifth cen- 

 tury, and that many of the acts of the former have been falsely ascribed to him, 

 it may be stated that the Irish as well as foreign authorities nearly concur in the 

 following facts : 



1. That he was born in the year 372. 



2. That he was brought captive into Ireland in the sixteenth year of his 

 age, in 388, and that after four or seven years' slavery he was liberated in 392 

 or 395. 



3. That on the death of Palladius, in 432, he was sent to Ireland as 

 archbishop, having been first, according to some authorities, consecrated by Pope 

 Celestine, or, as others state, in Gaul, by the archbishop Amatorex or Amator. 



4. That he arrived in Ireland in 432, and, after preaching there for sixty 

 years, died in the year 492 or 493, at the age of about 120 years. 



5. That he was interred either at Saul or Down. 



Of these facts the following summary is found in the Leahliar Breac, 

 (fol. 99, h- 1,) the oldest and best Irish MS. relating to church history now pre- 

 served, or which perhaps the Irish ever possessed : 



Debemus scire quo tempore Patricius Sane- We ought to know at what time Patrick, the 



tus Episcopus atque prcBceptor maximus holy bishop, and chief preceptor of the Scoti, be- 

 Scotorum inchoavit venire ad Hiherniam, gan to come to Ireland to preach and baptize, and 



