Saint Patrick (389?-461?) is known commonly in all of America and Ireland. His birthplace is unknown, but it was probably in southwestern Britain; his British name was Succat. At the age of 16 he was carried off by Irish marauders and passed his captivity 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 six years of slavery he did so, to the northern coast of Gaul. Ordained a priest, possibly by Saint Germanus, at Auxerre, he returned to Ireland. Sometime after 431, Patrick was appointed successor to St. Palladius, first bishop of Ireland. Patrick concentrated on the west and north of Ireland, establishing his see at Armagh. Patrick's two surviving works are written in Latin and demonstrate his acquaintance with the Vulgate translation of the Bible. His reported use of the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity led to its being regarded as the Irish national symbol. The Trinity is G-d, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. A strange chant of his, called the Lorica, is preserved in the Liber Hymnorum (Book of Hymns), and what purports to have been a hand-bell he used during Mass is shown in the National Museum in Dublin. His traditional feast day is March 17. Here is a picture of him

The shamrock was originally chosen as the national emblem of Ireland because of the legend that Saint Patrick used the plant to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. Most shamrocks, particularly the small-leafed white clover, have been considered by the Irish as good-luck symbols since earliest times, and this superstition has persisted in modern times among people of many nationalities. Celebrants wear shamrocks or various representations of the plant on St. Patrick's Day, March 17 of each year. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by St. Patrick.