One Shamrockin' Saint

Erin go Bragh, blogprechauns! As you know, we are but one brief week away from that greatest of all hagiolidays, St. Patrick's Day 2008! In honor of the coolest of the "secular saints"--as Valentine, Nicholas, and Patrick are often called by the heathen hoards--I have embarked on a little educational endeavor to make your St. Patrick's Day more meaningful this year. Every day this week, I will post one new factoid about the Irish missionary, so maybe this year will register as a reverential tribute to a truly great (though possibly at least partially fictional) man of God instead of just another reason to get plastered on green beer.

And so, without further shenanigans, here's today's fascinating Patrick fact:

One of St. Patrick's first miracles occured near Slemish, where a pagan chieftain accosted him as he made his way up from the river Boyne. The chieftain, Dichu, intended to brutally maul the unarmed saint, but when he raised his sword to strike, his arm froze in place and would not budge until he pledged his fealty to Christ and St. Patrick. Afterwards, Dichu offered his own barn to the saint as a rustic church, where Patrick oversaw his first administration of the eucharist in Ireland. Today, the place is still called Sabhall (pronounced 'Saul'), meaning barn, and a small replica stone barn has been erected there to commemorate the site.