Story Behind the Hymn
Kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16, St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is the inspiration for one of the most loved songs of all time. Patrick was born into a wealthy family in Britain (387 AD), kidnapped when a teenager, taken to Ireland, and sold into slavery. While a slave tending sheep for a high priest of Druidism, he was in continual prayer. As a result, he devoted himself to the Lord. Patrick did escape slavery and returned to Britain, but he believed God wanted him to go back to Ireland as a missionary. He did. During his 30 years in Ireland, he became one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time baptizing over 100,000 people and establishing hundreds of churches.
On the eve of one Easter Sunday morning, St. Patrick challenged the king’s decree to observe a pagan Druid festival. On this day, the lighting of a flame or candle was prohibited, except on Tara Hill by a Druid in the king’s palace in honor of their pagan gods. Unwilling to honor any but Jesus Christ, Patrick risked his life by climbing the highest hill in the opposite direction, Slane Hill. He lit a blazing Paschal fire to show the world that God’s light shines in darkness. The inflamed King dispatched his executioners to seize Patrick. Upon hearing St. Patrick’s conviction and evangelistic zeal, the king’s heart turned. Rather than execute him, the king supported Patrick’s missionary efforts.
St. Dallán Forgaill, a blind monk, wrote a poem 100 years later. A poem in honor of St. Patrick’s defiance that Easter Sunday morning, imploring God to make Himself first in his heart, to be in his thoughts waking and sleeping.
Years later, the hymn was set to the tune of a traditional Irish folk song, Slane, named after the hill where Patrick shone his light that Sunday morning. Nearly 1500 years later, in 1905, a 25-year-old college student translated the poem into English for the first time.
Is [this] an old song? Yes and no. Just like [Forgaill] took dusty pages of lyrics and infused it with new life, God took us and our sinful flesh and infused us with His Spirit.
[It] is the song of new life. The new life of St. Patrick, who shined his light for Christ. The new life in Ireland, where dead paganism gave way to centuries of vibrant faith. It’s the song of new life in the singer’s heart, where God shines His forgiveness in a sinful soul. It is the song of new life for the hymn itself, which millions now enjoy again after centuries of obscurity (Pastor Stephen, Bayview Bible Church).