Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17th) celebrates the traditional date of the death of Saint Patrick. Although it is impossible to verify many facts about his life, tradition states that Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain sometime in the fourth or fifth century. After reputedly being captured by Irish pirates at the age of sixteen and forced to work as a slave Patrick escaped back to Britain and became a Catholic priest. He later returned to Ireland and devoted his life to converting the Irish from ancient Celtic religious beliefs to Christianity. The actual date of his death was sometime between 460 and 493.