"Where is the Burial Place of St. Patrick?"
The answer is in the beautiful country of Northern Ireland
I want to take you to County Down where there is a town called Downpatrick and there you will find a quiet cemetery, the graveyard of the local Cathedral.
As we approached the church from the town we parked and walked up a short road which gives a great view of the entrance of the cathedral.
The day we went there was a lovely mild weather day but it was late in the afternoon hence the duller photo.
As you walk on around the left side of the cathedral you come to the tall tower at the end.
Here we saw the wooden sign telling us it is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity but more commonly called Down Cathedral as the web page address shows
I remembered having been there many many years ago but had forgotten how struck I would be by the simple grave which was covered by a large memorial stone in 1900
We wondered around a little but mostly stood beside the grave.
It seemed rather surreal that this could be the burial place of such a famous person from so long ago.
In 1985 a plaque was added which gave a little information about St. Patrick but more importantly explained that this gravesite also fulfilled a specific prophecy because it held 2 other Saints from many years before - St Brigid and St Columba
Anyone who has read my about me page or some of my family story posts will know that I was born in Londonderry so this information about the burial site was very interesting to me as St. Columb's Cathedral is well known there.
In the first picture of the grave stone and plaque you would not really notice that there is a symbol and a name marked out in the stone.
You will be able to see them in this picture below - a cross and part of the name Patrick.
We took some more time to wander around and admire the church building from the outside.
Lots of little spire adornments on the roof.
I think this last picture of the side of the cathedral helps to show you the calmness and quietness of the site during our visit as the sun was starting to get much lower in the sky.
The town of Downpatrick is also not a large significant place and not a city like Londonderry and Armagh (also in Northern Ireland) which have beautiful well-known cathedrals.
The last time we had been in Downpatrick was for the
St Patrick's Day Parade in 2015 but we had not taken time to stay on after the parade to do any sightseeing.
Other Posts related to St. Patrick and Northern Ireland can be found on our
