Saint Patrick in Manhattan
– a reflection
by Fulbright
Professor Dr Art Hughes
He did not have a social security number and
he worked on the black market. I am not
speaking about Seán from Ireland, Maria from
Mexico, Ricardo from Italy, Anna from the
Ukraine or many of the other so-called ‘illegals’,
making their home in modern New York, I am
talking, rather, about St Patrick, the fifth
century Briton who would later bring the
Christian faith to Erin’s Isle.
Patrick was the son of a well-to-do
government official of the Roman
administration and dwelt somewhere in the
west of Britain. Shortly after 400 AD we
have a reference, in Irish Annals, to Niall
of the Nine Hostages, a powerful Irish king,
making a raid up the River Severn (which
divides England from Wales). Such raids by
Irish pirates on the British mainland were
commonplace and it was on such a foray that
a band of pirates kidnapped Patrick, a mere
teenager, from his home and sold him as a
slave in Ireland. His first job, in this
‘black market economy’, was tending to swine
- and one source locates this first ‘job’ on
Sliabh Mis (or Slemish) in County Antrim.
After some years, Patrick made good his
escape to Britain, yet in a vision he dreamt
of Ireland and wanted to bring the Christian
faith to the country in which he had lived.
Following his ordination he was granted
permission by the Church to return to
Ireland as a Christian missionary. The
traditional date cited for his first mission
is 432 AD.
Here, then, we have a young man who had
spent years working illegally in Ireland
getting to know the people and love the
country. He later returns, with legal
status, and makes one of the most
significant contributions to Irish life
anyone has ever
made before, during or since.
What message, if any, can Patrick’s life and
example have for us in Manhattan? I think
there are several important ones. Firstly
all economies need people from outside to
help them sustain themselves and grow.
Secondly, most workers, ‘legal’ or
‘illegal’, make an honest contribution to
society. They work hard, keep the law and
want to feel a part of the set up. Any great
civilization which enables its citizens to
feel that they are stake holders is
destined to flourish and succeed.
We cannot, of course, sum up St Patrick from
a purely socio-economic perspective. He
brought a message, that all men and women
are equal and that we should treat our
neighbors (irrespective of birth, country of
origin, social status, color of skin or
religious denomination) as our fellows and –
as such – we should do unto them as we do
unto ourselves. This model is at least
worthy of an attempt to make it work.
St Patrick’s Day is a highly significant day
for the Irish, but St Patrick’s message is
not one merely for the Irish, it has much
wider implications and ramifications. St
Patrick’s life is a story of immigration and
exile, of settling in a new country – and in
that regard, it has significance for
Manhattan. He, as a “Brit”, is an excellent
reminder to the Irish of the dangers of
xenophobia, or excluding the other.
If St Patrick were to walk
among us today in Manhattan, how would he
feel about thousands of hardworking people
who yearn to be ‘legal’ and yet who are
looking over their shoulders? What would he
do for these people? Immigration was a real
and a burning issue for St Patrick in his
own time - it is also one which should be
center-stage in our times. What are we doing
about it? Perhaps, after all, Patrick’s
life, work and example have something very
real to offer the legislators and citizens
of Manhattan.
To all creeds and classes, then,
Happy St Patrick’s Day