March 2011, Issue 14
Dollhouse Tourism, Ireland
Page 61
The early Christian
period, 400AD and
the era of St.
Patrick - is also
noted for the
emergence of the
distinctive Celtic
knotwork interlace
emerges. The legend of Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is difficult to trace.
But Coilin Owens, Irish literature expert Leprechauns at play by Mikey O'Connell and Professor Emeritus of English at George Mason University, places him to have lived between 432-461AD. Scholarly account states the young saint was kidnapped at age 16 from his native land of the Roman British Isles by a band pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. As a shepherd, Patrick turned to religion for solace and after six years escaped. Once back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and returned to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.
Like the leprechaun, over the years the legend grew - allegedly it is courtesy of St. Patrick that there are no snakes to be found in Ireland - and the color green became associated with the saint instead of the then-traditional blue. Green ribbons and
Custom Dolls, Houses & Miniatures / CDHM