St. Pat and his animals

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Saint Patrick’s Day brings fond memories of celebrating with friends. But I decided to look a bit further into the history behind this day and came away with some interesting knowledge of St. Pat and his animals. As it turns out, “St. Pat had an “affinity for and expertise with dogs“.

Early Days of St. Patrick

As it is told, St. Patrick was not from Ireland initially but he was a Roman named Maewyn Succat born in 387AD in either Scotland or Wales. He was taken captive by Irish pirates and sold as a slave to an Irish chieftain. This is how he learned about Irish herding and hunting dogs, and adopted the Celtic language. For the next six years he worked tending the chieftain’s sheep and pigs living with the farm animals and sleeping next to his dogs.

One night in a dream, as the legend goes, he saw his favorite sheepdog in the form of an angel. The angel told him about a ship on the Irish coast he could use to escape his enslaved situation. And the next day he started his 200 mile journey to the Irish coast to find that ship. When he finally arrived, he found that the ship was loaded with Irish Wolfhounds and other breeds for the purpose of being shipped by dealers to the continent to be used for fighting wild dogs and by Roman gladiators. With his calming effect on the dogs and handling expertise the dealers, after some convincing, agreed to give him free passage.

Maewyn becomes St. Pat

Maewyn sailed to Ireland and Spain and was finally free after selling the dogs. He sailed on to France (Gaul) where he joined St. Martin’s Monastery and “became a devout Christian”. He was later renamed Patricius by Pope Celestine I. And, in 432, the Pope sent him back to Ireland. Here, before his death in 461AD, he converted a large number of pagans to Christianity.

As reported, St. Patrick never drove any snakes out of Ireland. Rather, the ‘snake’s’ in the legend are reminiscent of the Celtic snakelike drawings of animals. However, he did a great deal to rid Ireland of the paganistic influence.

Celebrate the Irish Wolfhound St. Pat’s Day

The Irish Wolfhound is the tallest of Irish dog breeds and the tallest dog breed overall. This canine is 32 to 34 inches in height with long legs, a deep chest, and a muscular body. The wolfhound was originally bred to hunt deer and wolves and is a great guard dog.

Take a look at a previous post for St. Pat’s Day entitled: “Let’s Celebrate-St. Pat’s Day Fast Approaching”. Here you will see many Irish breeds of dog and a cat.

Funny Animal Videos

First up from Big Geek Daddy see some lucky dogs.

Second see why dogs are awesome.

And last is hug your hound day.

Thanks

Happy to have you stop at Pet Viewpoint. Come again next week and do leave your comments and suggestions for subject matter down below on the left. Share any St. Pat’s Day pet memories you have with us. Remember to “Subscribe” so you continue to see some great pet tips and fun facts.