September 1 will consist of 3 blog posts - mainly cause we saw so many places. We went to Downpatrick. Downpatick is an ancient city and is the burial place for Saint Patrick. The following information was taken from pamphlets about the sites from the Downpatrick community center, Department for Communities. "We started the day at Saul Church. Saul Church is built on the site of Saint Patrick's earliest place of Christian worship in Ireland, founded by the Saint in 432 AD. Originally made of wood, the church has been rebuilt many times - most recently 1932 to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of its foundation.
When St Patrick came to Ireland strong currents swept his boat from the Irish sea through the Strangford Lough Narrows and he landed at the Slaney River, near Downpatrick. The High King's brother, Dichu, was quickly converted and gave him a barn or Sabhail in Gaelic, from which the name Saul derives. This became the first church in Ireland. Some early writers say that, when close to death, St Patrick was told by an angel to return to the place from which you came, that is, Sabhall', where he died on the 17th of March around the year 461AD. It was said that the surrounding countryside was lit by hundred of bonfires, like a sea of stars, to mark his passing.
The ancient site at Saul has many interesting artefacts including stone-built graves, a souterrain and an important collection of cross-carved stones, ranging in date from the 8th to the mid 12th century when St Malachy introduced Augustinian Canons here. "
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