Happy Saint Patrick's Day to our dear and gentle readers (also the rest of you)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I love the intricacies of Celtic knotwork, like the image here, part of the rich and creative heritage of Ireland.

In order to celebrate the day other than by imbibing, I present to you our readers a challenging quiz about Ireland and St. Patrick. Answers are at the end of the quiz.

1. What was St. Patrick's birth name.

a. Patrick
b. Maewyn Succat
c. Bill

2. St. Patrick was born:

a. Armagh, Ireland
b. Mont St. Michel, France
c. Cumbria, Britain

3. St. Patrick's Day celebrates/ commemorates:

a. his birth
b. the day he performed his most prominent saintly miracle
c. his death
d. his official sainthood

4. St. Patrick was a Christian before going to Ireland, and brought Christianity there as a missionary.
True or False?

5. There appear to actually have been TWO St. Patricks, in Ireland, both missionaries, both performing miracles, around the same time, (and neither of them were actually named Patrick).
True or False?

6. Which of the following are famous relics of St. Patrick?

a. St. Patrick's bell
b. the Angels gospel
c. a goblet
d. all of the above

7. St. Patrick is credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland, into the sea.
But there were never any snakes in Ireland in the first place.
True or False?

8. St. Patrick was 120 years old when he died.
True or False?

9. The Battle for the Body of St. Patrick, approx. 493 AD, was resolved how?
a. through a miracle, each side thought THEY had the actual body
b. through a miracle, the body rose in the air, and picked which side won custody of it
c. through a miracle (spontaneous combustion), the body burst into flame, scaring both sides into making peace
d. dividing the body in half, like the baby in the Bible story about Solomon, after which the dead body regenerated the missing halves

10. St. Patrick spent time as a captive not only in Ireland, but in what other country?
a. France
b. Scotland
c. Iceland
d. Spain





Answers
1.b 2.c 3.c
4. TRICK QUESTION! BOTH true & false; he was a nominal (baptised) Christian, son of a Christian priest, before experiencing a subsequent profound conversion in Ireland
5.True (and too strange for me to make up)
6.d 7. & 8. True
9.a 10.a