Massachusetts Has a Lot of Churches Named for St. Patrick

Have you ever wondered how many St. Patrick's Churches are in Massachusetts? I hadn't either until I learned how many there are in America. That prompted me to do a Google search and I was surprised by what I found.

Something on Facebook called The Dunnes of Brittas reports, "In the U.S. alone, there are 450 churches named after St. Patrick, with the most well-known one being the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York."

In Massachusetts alone, I found 17 St. Patrick's Churches, including several here on the SouthCoast.

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There is a St. Patrick's Church on South Street in Somerset. There is a beautiful St. Patrick's Church on High Street in Wareham.

St. Patrick also has churches named in his honor in Brockton, Falmouth, Roxbury, Natick, Whitinsville, Watertown, Lowell, Stoneham, Rutland, Lawrence, Springfield, South Hadley, Groveland, Monson and Fiskdale.

There are 17 churches in Massachusetts named for St. Patrick, meaning you are never more than an hour away from a St. Patrick's Church in the Commonwealth.

My father-in-law has been attempting to chart the history of St. Patrick for some time but has run into a bunch of conflicting information about the good saint's background.

The Dunnes of Brittas says, "St. Patrick was said to have been born in 384 AD; there are many debates on where he was actually born but it was for sure not in Ireland!"

Many believe St. Patrick was born in France and taken to Ireland as a slave. After escaping from bondage it is thought that St. Patrick returned to Ireland years later to spread the teachings of Christianity."

Another legend has it that St. Patrick drove all of the snakes in Ireland into the sea. Ah, not true.

What difference does it make today? I'm not sure St. Patrick would approve but have a blast in his honor on St. Patrick's Day.