In the footsteps of a saint

people would say nowadays, energetic, vigorous, fiery sometimes, able to

overcome hard times, a lover of people and of creation.

When St Patrick came to Ireland from either Britain or Gaul in 432 he

meant to sail up the coast to County Antrim where, as a young slave, he

had looked after flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle on

Slemish hill, near Broughshane, between the town of Ballymena and

Carnlough village in the Glens of Antrim. This prominent mound-like

volcano-plug hill has an ancient fort on top and wide views.

Slemish can be climbed by most nimble visitors by way of a prominent

path and is the scene today of modern Church pilgrimages.

But strong currents swept St Patrick's boat through the tidal narrows

of Strangford Lough, the largest sea inlet in the British Isles, and he

landed where the Slaney river flows into the lough and 10 miles east of

what is now the county town of Down, Downpatrick. Strangford was named

by the Vikings 1000 years ago and means strong or violent currents and

is now an attractive village facing its twin town of Portaferry across

the straits.

Strangford Lough is a huge, gouging bite into the eastern section of

Co Down, with the great Ards peninsula curving round like an inverted

crescent-shape and forming its eastern shore.

It is a beautiful corner of wild coastline, sheltered corners, rolling

hills, wide rivers, bird-filled estuaries, rich farmland and the relics

of many peoples.

Patrick toiled for 30 years to convert the Irish to Christianity and

died at Saul in 461 and is buried at Downpatrick -- now a natural

touring centre 20 miles south of Belfast -- in a grave now marked by

simple stone slabs in Down cathedral churchyard.

St Brigid and St Columba (Columcille) are also buried there.

You can follow St Patrick's first footsteps on Irish soil, from the

spot at Ringbane, near Raholp, on Strangford Lough, where he landed, and

then on to Saul, and then to Struell where he blessed the wells. The

small church at Saul is a replica of an early Christian foundation with

a round tower.

Downpatrick has been a place of Christian worship since the fifth

century and the prominent cathedral dominates the hill today and

overlooks the wide and sparkling Quoile River.

Down County Museum is well worth a visit and was once a jail. A linked

heritage centre tells St Patrick's story. Many of the people held in the

jail were transported to Australia and Tasmania. If you are unlucky with

the weather, it is worth making a trip to the National Trust's

Castleward Mansion, just to the west of Strangford.

Images tend to dominate in Northern Ireland ... and Armagh City has

the spires of two great cathedrals sited on hilltops and the countryside

to the north east of the city has the sight and scents of apple blossom

orchards.

The separate churches tell of religious and political strains as well

as a glorious Christian heritage, but there is a happy after-glow from

one of the most successful of working-together projects, ''Armagh

Together 1994-1995'', when community sharing in a host of products

brought praise from all over the country.

St Patrick founded his first church there and the visitor sees a

county landscape which changes dramatically from the mountainous Ring of

Gullion region to the shores of vast Loch Neigh. Armagh is the most

venerated of Irish cities.

The name Armagh comes from Ard Macha or Macha's height, after a

legendary queen, Macha, who built a fortress on the high ground. For mre

than 700 years the legendary kings of Ulster had their royal capital at

nearby Navan Fort, another hilltop site, and where there is a

startlingly effective heritage centre.

The high ground of Armagh city dominates the landscape. St Patrick

approached a local chieftain, Daire, who gave him a site near the foot

of the hill where he built his first church.

After his own conversion Daire gave him the hilltop site and Christian

churches have now stood there for 15 centuries and the influence of the

Church spread all over Ireland and abroad. By the eighth century Armagh

was generally accepted as Ireland's ecclesiastical capital.

As well as the soaring walls of the two great cathedrals, the visitor

is today impressed by the standard of much of the city's other

buildings. The eighteenth-century Church of Ireland primate, the

influential Archbishop Richard Robinson, employed some of the country's

best architects and much of the city's splendour rivals that of Georgian

Dublin.

St Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral contains the burial place of

Brian Buro, High King of Ireland, and this much loved building is on the

site of the great Irish monastic schools to which students came from all

over Europe.

The Roman Catholic cathedral stands on another hilltop across from the

older Church of Ireland cathedral and was begun in 1840. Its interior

owes much to the intricately decorated churches of continental Europe

and its soaring towers are breathtaking.

People who get steamed up about obtrusive heritage or visitor centres

being built close to historic sites will find themselves reassured by

the character of the Navan Fort centre, two miles from Armagh city. Here

King Conor NacNessa had a palace, which was also home to the Knights of

the Red Branch and the mightiest of all the Irish warriors, Cu Chuliann,

the tales of whom also appear in Scotland's Celtic history.

The centre tells the archaeological and mythological story of the area

and is built into the side of a small hill and because it has a

grassed-over roof it gives the feeling of an underground building. The

centre got a deserved tourism award in 1993.

In Armagh city itself is St Patrick's Trian (pronounced tree-an), a

name linked to the ancient divisions of Armagh. The series of displays

and audio visual theatre which tell the Armagh Story from prehistoric

times until today are housed in a complex of buildings.

If you want a change from saints and warriors then try the city's

planetarium, established in 1967 and which attracts large numbers and

which tells the story of space exploration. The city's observatory,

founded in 1790 by Archbishop Robinson from his personal finances,

combines the original Georgian mansion with modern buildings.

If that isn't enough, you can head for the Palace Stables heritage

centre where you can take part in a day in the stable life of the

eighteenth century, good fun and minus the glaur.