St. Patrick’s Gold
The Strangford Lough Brewing Company beer St. Patrick’s Gold is one of three Irish beers from our St. Patrick’s range named in honour of Saint Patrick. St Patrick was an important part of Irish History which is why we have named three of our beers after him.
Our St. Patrick’s Ale label displays an image of a Celtic cross. The background is the view of Strangford Lough from the offices at Strangford Lough Brewing Company’s global headquarters.
Patron Saint of the Emerald Isle
Patrick, reputedly born in Wales, was taken into captivity at the age of sixteen when Irish raiders descended on the district around his father’s farm. They took him across the sea to Ireland where he would stay as a slave. It was during this time of desperation and hopelessness that he turned to God and religion as a means of fighting off fear.
After six years Patrick escaped and began his journey home, guided by a voice he believed to be God’s. During his time at home he trained to be a priest. Patrick had a dream in which he saw a man called Victorious; in his hands he held letters, one of which read, ‘The cry of the Irish’. Patrick saw this as a sign that it was now time for him to return to the people among whom he had served as a slave. Patrick returned to Ireland in the year 432 to commence his Christian work. He made his first Irish Christian conversions at his first church in the Irish Sabbhall (pronounced ‘Saul’ in Gaelic). Saul church is a replica of this ancient Celtic church and is situated at the site were the original previously stood. An image of Saul church is seen on another one of our Irish beer labels - St. Patrick’s Best. To discover more about Saul church read our St. Patrick’s Best article.
Patrick was successful in his goal to convert Irish pagans to Christianity, perhaps largely due to his incorporating traditional Irish symbols into Christianity. For example, many believe he came up with the Celtic cross:
St. Patrick & the History and Symbolism of the Celtic cross
In Ireland, it is a popular myth that the Celtic cross was introduced by Saint Patrick during his time converting the pagan Irish. According to legend, he wanted to incorporate a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, into the Christian cross “so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish.” It is also believed that Saint Patrick combined the Christian symbol of the cross with the Pagan symbol of the Sun to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun.
There are many variations of the legends about the Celtic cross. Legend has it that St. Patrick, preaching to some heathens, took one of their standing stones etched with a circle that symbolised their moon goddess, and scratched a Latin cross mark over the circle, making it the first Celtic cross. It is believed this was to show that Christianity had replaced their pagan beliefs. The cross is so named because early examples are found in the Celtic land of Ireland, where, in the 8th century, missionaries erected these stone crosses to mark preaching stations and monasteries.
The chosen colour
The colour of the droplet on our label is green because it is symbolic of Ireland and is an appropriate colour to represent our Emerald Isle. It is also the colour most associated with St. Patrick. However, studies show that green has not always been associated with St. Patrick – they show his chosen colour on his coat of arms was actually blue, not green. Green is also seen on our St. Patrick’s Best label and St. Patrick’s Ale label, making all three beers recognisable as our St .Patrick’s range.
For more on St. Patrick visit Irish Secrets.
