I, Patrick, a winner! Abarta delivering the goods for Paddy’s Day


It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Abarta Audioguides [Website]. I’m also a big fan of Terry O’Hagan & his endlessly informative & entertaining Vox Hiberionacum blog [Blog | Facebook] … so when I heard that they were coming together to create an audioguide to the life of Saint Patrick, I was immediately interested. I was even more thrilled when Neil Jackman at Abarta offered me the opportunity to get a preview listen to it! I’m not going to give a particularly long winded and in-depth review of it – I’m just going to say that it’s brilliant and if you have even the slightest interest in who St. Patrick really was and want to know more about ‘the man behind the saint’, this is definitely for you! I’m no particular scholar of Patrick, but I really found the text (beautifully narrated by Gerry O’Brien) to be open and engaging – no matter your level of knowledge, you will not feel patronised or talked down to in any way … there is no ‘dumbing down’ for a perceived ‘layperson’ audience. Instead, some complex and relatively obscure ideas about the Saint and his world are laid out in an appealing and straightforward way. I have been left with a new appreciation of Patrick and the world he inhabited & I’ll definitely be coming back to this audiobook!

Go buy it from Abarta here or from irisharchaeology.ie here … just go buy it!


While you’re at it, I’d highly recommend reading Terry’s post giving the background to his involvement to Patrick: Six Years A Slave.

If you’re still not fed up with all that, may I recommend a couple of pieces of my own, detailing several adventures in the Saint’s home territories:

St. Patrick’s Gravestone: A Bigger fake!
St Patrick and the tale of the non-disappearing cross | Chapple Family excursions in Downpatrick

And finally … round the lot off with a beautiful VR Tour of the Saint’s putative grave from Voices from the Dawn.

Whatever you do & however you choose to mark or celebrate the day … please stay away from the green beer!

Location: Downpatrick, Downpatrick, Down BT30, UK

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