I was so looking forward to attending the new docu-drama about St. Patrick, called “I Am Patrick: The Patron Saint of Ireland,” which was scheduled to hit theatres in the spring of 2020.

​I was disappointed that it just wouldn’t happen because of the Covid-19 pandemic closing down theatres. But in the winter of 2021, I discovered the DVD in a Vision Video catalog. I don’t know when it became available for streaming. It wouldn’t be like seeing it on the big screen, but at least I would get to see it.

​The I Am Patrick docu-drama starred three different men, in order to show convincing age progression. The two younger versions of St. Patrick bore believable similarity, with the second version utilizing a beard. The actor portraying the older St. Patrick looked . . . well . . . older, as we all eventually do. The three actors, from younger to older, are Robert McCormack (born and raised in Dublin, Ireland), Sean T. O’Meallaigh (born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1983), and John Rhys-Davies (a Welsh actor born in 1944). To add to its authenticity and scenic quality, the movie was filmed in Ireland and England. The back of the DVD jacket reveals the intent of the Christian Broadcasting Network in producing the film when it says, I Am Patrick peels back centuries of legends and myth to tell the true story of St. Patrick.”

This docu-drama blends Patrick’s writings, dramatizations based on historical knowledge (making up about 80% of the content), and interviews with experts, all to try to give an accurate picture of St. Patrick’s life. His life is really quite a remarkable story. Many probably don’t know that St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. Born into a well-off English family, he was stolen by pirates and sold in Ireland as a slave when he was only a teen. Though raised in the Catholic Church, his religious life had only been on the surface.

After Patrick’s traumatic kidnapping and sale as a slave, he was forced to tend sheep all alone in harsh conditions in the hills of Ireland. So he found himself seeking to know the God toward whom he had been so apathetic in his early life. He came to know the God of love intimately, and to be very grateful for His grace. He also had visions from the Lord. Following his miraculous escape and his return to his home, he shocked his family by telling them he felt God’s call to return as a missionary to the pagan land from which he had escaped. But first he would have to be trained in the Catholic Church and reach the rank of Bishop.

Patrick’s life as a missionary in Ireland was not without great challenges requiring great courage. He even suffered great challenges in his relationship with the Catholic Church. A colleague and friend with whom he had shared a secret sin he deeply regretted from his early life ended up betraying his confidence. The nature of his sin was not disclosed in any of his writings. The Church also disagreed with his way of handling his financial support. Though the Church wanted to pull Patrick back from his ministry to Ireland, his heart for Ireland caused him to reject their insistence that he leave.

I felt that the book I had reviewed in my article about the history of St. Patrick’s Day, entitled St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography, by Philip Freeman gave a little clearer insight into Patrick’s conflicts with the Church and some of his other challenges. Nevertheless, I felt this presentation provided an excellent overview of St. Patrick’s life in an entertaining way. The film lasts 93 minutes. I think it would be best enjoyed by middle school age and up. Below is a taste of the movie.

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