When Did St. Patrick Die Essay

Answering the question ‘When did St. Patrick die?’ is of crucial importance in understanding the way in which Early Medieval History works. The debate over the potential death date of St. Patrick shows that (for this period at least) there is no such thing as a historical fact for an Historian to rely on. When studying any period in History, there is a heavy reliance on sources. However, with the Medieval period, there are question marks surrounding the reliability of the sources. With very few original sources, there is always the potential that critical information has been lost when the copies were made.

The question itself is an interesting one. It requires a critical examination of the sources relating to the subject, as well as a look at the theories put forward by contemporary scholars. In my view, there are 3 main theories regarding the death date of St. Patrick. The authors, Bury, O’Rahilly and Esposito use a variety of sources to support their arguments. As stated above, there are a number of question marks surrounding the reliability of any source from the medieval period. The key writings for answering this question are: The writings of St. Patrick (Confessio & Epistola), the Annals of Ulster and the Book of Armagh.

In my opinion, approaching the question in this manner allows an examination of how theories have developed and changed over a period of around 50 years. Critically reviewing each theory will allow an educated conclusion to be made as to whether an early (AD 430, Esposito), middle (AD 461, Bury) or late (AD 492, O’Rahilly) date is more likely for the death of St. Patrick. Although all 3 theories present what can be considered valid arguments, I believe Esposito’s early date of AD 430 makes the most