Experience the legend
Ireland's patron saint, St. Patrick, has a close hostorical connection with Skerries. Legend has it that the Pope sent him to Ireland and the saint landed on an island off Skerries in 432 from which he would travel to the mainland to preach Christianity.
A colourful local story about St. Patrick is that he arrived on the island with a goat to provide milk. While the saint was ashore, the natives of Skerries went to the island and stole his goat. They killed and feasted on it but when St. Patrick returned to find his goat missing, he got very angry.
He reached the mainland in just two giant strides, the first step took him to Colt island and the second to the Red Island.
When he confronted the people, they tried to deny the wicked deed but found the best cried out from their bellies. Only when they told the saint the truth did their voices return. To this day St. Patrick's footprint, where he stepped on to the south side of Red Island, can be found in the rocks.
There is also a tradition of making a secret wish when putting three fingers (a shamrock) into the water in the footprint. To be dubbed a 'Skerries Goat' means that you truly belong to the town!
St. Patrick's Island is so called because he is thought to have founded a monastery here tht stood until the Vikings arrived in 797 and burned it. In the 13th century, the Archbishop of Dublin directed that monastery move to the mainland.
There are still ruins of an early 12th century church on the island. They say that if you look through the last remaining window frame tht you'll see the silhouette of a bishop.
The Catholic church in the town, also called St. Patrick's, was consecrated in 1939. It replaced an earlier incarnation on the Church Street sude if the same site. Te original church's belfry was left standing and is now the bell tower for the existing church.
Today, there is a leaflet and map available in the local tourist office for St. Patrick's Way, a walking trail around the town.
To explore more in Skerries click here.