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St. Patrick of Ireland has been enshrined in myth and history as a benign and beloved figure, a native Irish miracle worker who drove both the snakes and the Druids from his homeland and gently issued in the age of Christianity.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Magonus Succatus Patricius ("Paidrig") was of Roman heritage; captured into slavery in Ireland at the age of sixteen, he escaped at the age of twenty-two. I Am of Irelaunde takes the forty-year-old Paidrig back to the site of his shame. He is full of anger, and is determined to bring Christianity to Ireland, even if he has to beat it into the "lazy, loathesome" Irish. But something happens to change Paidrig. Something shrouded in mystery and wonder. Long before Paidrig, Ireland had been guarded by a chivalric brotherhood of warriors known as the Fianna. Osian, a leading poet/warrior of the Fianna, has been dead for 200 years. He has come by magic to Paidrig to show him the wonder of Eire. And the stories that Paidrig hears open doors that will win Paidrig's heart and convert him into the champion of the people he once despised.
“What a lovely book! Not only first-rate storytelling, but a feel for the yearning for mystery and belief that lie at the roots of the soul.” —Diana Gabaldon
“Beautifully portrays the intricacies of faith, love, and humanity.” —Booklist
“This is a beautiful book–both mystical and earthly, mysterious and encouraging! It should be read by anybody who can say, ‘I am of Ireland,’ or those, at least on occasion, who wish they might be able to say it.” —Father Andrew Greeley
March 1, 2001
