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Ian Paisley: a modern day St Patrick?

on 7 February 2006 , 5:20 pm 14 | 21 views

Yep, it’s true. Well according to one academic giving a lecture at the Ulster Museum entitled ‘St Patrick – The Man and The Myth’.

  • JOE 90

    No way, he is the spreader of hate against
    the natioanlist irish people , he is well
    past a sort of politcal cobweb

  • Ultonian Scottis American

    LOL!

    It’s a gambit to get the DUP to endorse St. Patrick’s festivals in NI!

  • Jill Robinson

    Um, something wrong here. If Dr. Warner is a “leading Northern Ireland academic,” how come he can’t spot a phoney “leading Northern Ireland academic”, i.e. Paisley?

  • Hmm.. most seem to think that the story is about Ian Paisley being favourable compared to St Patrick – not helped by the reluctance of the linked article to supply much more detail than the comparison itself – and framed their comments accordingly.

    but, as I recall from one report I read, it may have been the Belfast Telegraph noted at the linked article[now archived], he was actually saying that the modern image of Patrick is a fiction and that he was closer to what the other commenters’ view of Ian Paisley is.

  • Jill Robinson

    So we can look forward to Paisley’s “Confessio,” can we? When he tells us what he did with the S.A. guns 🙂

  • Duck

    Who knows what it was really like to know St Patrick, he might’ve made Paisley look like Ronnie Corbett. I’m sure he was none to chuffed at being dragged out for his midnight Celtic sailing lessons across the Irish sea. He mght’ve quietly kept a grudge against those Irish that are more Irish than we Irish today.

    He certainly made a point of coming back and wiping out a major part of their culture transplanting his own beliefs upon theirs and burning hundreds of ancient Irish books. Until Patrick came along they had a God they could see and feel, (a major incentive in my book) their God told them what time to get up at, kept them warm during the day and probably explains the reason many Belfast people even today still say “right son” with a nod, sniff and a secret wink.

    Paisley on the other hand, like the ancient Irish, seemed to worship fire. His followers certainly did, they couldn’t get enough of it, burnt everything in sight. Many others afflicted by that religious fevour ended up themselves on their kness praying to mother earth, at least they had a choice of Gods, that’s when democracy counts. Even today you can observe many followers maintaining the ceremony on sacred days by singing loud mantras around large pyramid fires, some dressed in strange clothes, drinking strange concoctions, some even seem dead set on self sacrifice as they brave the dying flames. Like energy culture never dies it just changes, well a lttle bit anyway, we are talking N.Ireland here, let’s not get carried away…

    Either way it’s likely they’ve both been as fruity as Geordie C.Wright’s/Bernadette Devilin’s love child on a kays catalogue roller skate flying a flag down the wrong end of town but they did have their similarities, one chased snakes while the other said he chased ‘something like rats’, they both more or less formed their own church in Ireland, they both carried sticks and both wanted us to live like monks, case closed.

    I just watched the life of Brian, now I know why he wanted to ban it. Here’s me thinking it was simply a comedy when all the time it was a secretly coded Irish documentary. I’ll explain it if I get a large fee with a small following…answers on a postcard.

    Duck

  • D’Oracle

    Well, I suppose it is true that St Patrick was also an accomplished sheep herder.

  • Jill Robinson

    D’Oracle, is that euphemistic language or are you using metaphor? 🙂

  • D’Oracle

    Jill,

    A feeble attempt at humour in the face of some decidedly dodgy looking assertion (assuming the good doctor was on the level)

  • Jill Robinson

    Good doctor? St Patrick wasn’t a doctor but a herbalist. Remember how he cured all ills with his dear little shamrock? 🙂

  • PaddyReilly

    St Paddy and Rev Ian? Easy:-

    1) Both of them had names beginning with PA
    2) Both held British Nationality
    3) Both associated with Mid Antim (Ballymena, Sliabh Mis)
    4) Both clerics
    5) Both prisoners (of Irish slave-owners, of British state)

    What could be more similar?

  • Jill Robinson

    What could be more similar? Ian Paisley and Abu Hamza that’s who!

    1) Both have big mouths
    2) Both have done time
    3) Both incited idiots to riot and worse
    4) Both are clerics
    5) Both loathe line dancing
    6) Both hate Jerry Springer
    7) Both have hooks*

    *So 6 out of 7 ain’t bad 🙂

  • Iris

    Does somebody know more about Irish people’s history? I’ve been readin up about Irish people & found out that they were slaves themselves during the slavery era in America. There were African Americans & also white people who were slaves during the time. I read somewhere that Irish made up most of the white slave population back then. Was that true?

  • ed in America

    Yes Irish and Scots/Irish(or Ulster Irish) came to America as indentured servants. However they aquired a reputation for not being good servants. It is documented that they were quarrelsome, hard to control and eventually many would run away. I say this with pride and not in a derogatory way. My ancsestors came to America this way.