His parents, Calpurnius (father) who was a deacon and civil official and Conchessa (mother), were Romans living in Britain.

His grandfather, Pontius, was a priest; however, Patrick did not grow up in a particularly religious or intellectual environment.

His given name was Maewyn Succat.

At the age of sixteen, Maewyn (Patrick) was kidnapped and sold into slavery for about six years in Ireland, where he worked as a shepherd.

Patrick was believed to have gone to Ulster, where he probably spent most of time in captivity as a young man.

It was during that time Patrick began to have religious visions and dreams. In one dream, he was shown a way to escape from Ireland — by going to the coast and getting on a ship. After a perilous journey of hundreds of miles, he arrived at the coast and discovered a ship bound to Britain. He escaped and embarked for Gaul (now France).

One night in his dream Patrick received a letter from a man that says “The voice of the Irish.” He strongly felt that those, near his place of slavery, were crying out for help: “We beseech thee holy youth to come and walk once more amongst us.”

Although these visions moved him, Maewyn did not feel himself worthy of returning to Ireland in his non-believer state. So, he journeyed to France where he entered a monastery and began studying for the priesthood for the Irish mission. At this time he changed his name to Patrick (meaning "father of his people" in Latin).

It was only after finding his true spiritual self that Patrick felt he could answer the call to return to Ireland to "care and labor for the salvation of others." He returned as a bishop around 432 A.D., traveled throughout Ireland spreading the word of God, and built churches and schools all over Ireland.

The public letter, Confessio, showed his vigorous personality by addressing what the British chief Coroticus had done to Ireland, which are slaying and taking a number of Christian converts.

Patrick was accused of several charges, such as a countryman, a man without higher education, arrival of coming to Ireland with mercenary motives, a waste of too much money funded by Britain, financial impropriety, and a bribe for the administrators of the law and King’s protection.

Patrick is only known from two short works, the Declaration (Latin:Confessio), a spiritual autobiography and his Letter to The Soldiers of Coroticus (Latin:Epistola) a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians, written at some point during his career as bishop.

One purpose of the Confession is to set forth his confidence in that calling and to witness the divine help that enabled him to fulfill it.

The book, Confessio, Patrick wrote was about the vindication of his life, mission, and conducts and defended the charges against him.  He wrote this book during his last years.

There were Christians in Ireland long before Patrick came, and pagans long after he died. However, it is undoubtedly true that Patrick played a crucial role in transforming Irish society

Ever since his death in 493, the body of St. Patrick showed very significance of him as a spiritual leader and an object of veneration in early Christian Ireland.

People believed that St. Patrick explained the concept of the Trinity in Christianity using a shamrock he found growing at his feet. More likely, the three-part leaf was worn by the people of Ireland as a symbol of the cross. however, it is assumed that St. Patrick knew about the significance of the shamrock in other religious and pagan traditions and may have incorporated it into his explanations and teachings.

Patrick's humility, engaging personality, and knowledge of the social structure in Ireland helped his mission succeed. Eventually, he made his headquarters at Armagh (in present-day Northern Ireland). By the time of his death on March 17 between 461 A.D. and 492/493 A.D. in Ireland. The country was almost entirely Christian by the time St. Patrick passed on.

The mission was very successful because Ireland was almost entirely Christian by the time of his death. He understood and wisely preserved the social structure of the country, converting the people tribe by tribe. Out of his hierarchy, organized by tribal units, developed the Celtic abbot-bishop system. At Patrick's instance, the traditional laws of Ireland were codified. Patrick modified them to harmonize with Christian practice, and he mitigated the harsher ones, particularly those that dealt with slaves and taxation of the poor.