WE don't know as much about St Patrick as one might think considering he is our national saint.
But, notwithstanding the view of some historians that there were two St Patricks, a few facts do seem undisputed.
These include that he was an immigrant, that he spent much of his time in Ulster, where his remains are buried, and that he was an Irish speaker.
It's also certain that the proselytising preacher, with a shamrock in one hand and a Bible in the other, was something of a shock to the druidic system then dominant in Ireland.
Indeed, St Patrick's ability to shock and convert was alive and well in the regal halls of Stormont on Tuesday when DUP ministers and the Assembly Speaker lined out with nationalist politicians and Gaeilge community leaders to launch the Irish language celebration, Seachtain na Gaeilge.
Joining children from the East Belfast Irish medium school, Scoil na Seolta — itself something of a minor miracle — and led by Speaker Edwin Poots, the event represented exactly the type of common purpose voters from all sides wish to see from the folk on the hill.
The Speaker's carefully-chosen words, encouraging everyone to revel in a language which has been spoken in these parts for 2,000 years and more, will have resonated across the religious and political divide.
There was a time when St Patrick's Day was observed by the powers-that-be with just one event – the presentation of shamrock to the UDR at City Hall!
Things have changed for the better since then. This St Patrick's Day, after 6,000-plus runners pound the streets at the SPAR Craic 10K, Belfast will witness a Music Festival at Cathedral Square to include a pipe band extravaganza and a céilí in the MAC as well as a family festive parade. Additionally, courtesy of Féile, there will be an amazing 140 session-strong trad trail in the run-up to March 17. All these events are being publicised across the media landscape, including in this organ, as Belfast rightfully takes its place among the cities worldwide which raise a glass to St Patrick.
The cross-community embrace of St Patrick should cheer everyone. After all, unionists have as much claim to St Patrick as nationalists. In fact, as a preacher who spent his life winning converts, surely Naomh Pádraig himself would give this latter-day conversion his blessing.
