ST PATRICK's origins may be rooted more in Brittany than Britain, according to a new book that claims Ireland’s patron saint was in fact French.
Co. Wicklow-based Church of Ireland clergyman Rev Marcus Losack says four years of research has led him to believe St Patrick had a French connection.
His book, Rediscovering Saint Patrick: A New Theory of Origins, has just been published. In it Rev Losack argues that the established and accepted theory that St Patrick was taken captive from somewhere in Britain is not supported by any real evidence.
Instead, he claims, a site near St Malo in Brittany belonged to St Patrick’s father Calpurnius — a Scottish noble who moved there to avoid the Saxon invasion.
The site is now home to Chateau de Bonaban and Rev Losack wants to carry out an archaeological excavation to confirm his theory.
