Armagh Cathedral

 

Patrick was the 16 year old son of a Romano-British official when he was captured and enslaved by Irish raiders. After 5 years of servitude he escaped and was eventually reunited with his family. Yet his Confessions relates that in a dream he read a letter in which he heard the voice of the Irish begging him to return. In the end, he did.  After much evangelising and cheating of death, Patrick obtained land on the top of the hill called Druím Saíleach and built a stone church in 445. By the 7th century Armagh was home to a monastery, the most important See in Ireland becoming a centre of learnhing known throughout Europe. it was here that the Book of Armagh (now in Dublin) was written. For more on St Patrick and Armagh read here.