to the point of death’.62 Later in the letter Patrick refers to the fact that these men were contemptuous of the Irish: ‘For them it is a disgrace that we are Irish’.63 What is noteworthy about this statement is that Patrick’s love for those to whom he had preached the good news had led to his being willing to identify himself with them. There had been a time, Patrick admitted, when such love was utterly foreign to his character. But God dealt with him in mercy and love, and so transformed his character