y he described
the cordial manner in which he was welcomed by his relatives, who, to
use the Saint's own words, "received me as a son, and besought me that
then at least, after I had undergone so many tribulations, I should
never depart from them again. Then in the middle of the night, a man
who seemed to come from Ireland, whose name was Victoricus, the bearer
of innumerable letters, one of which he handed to me; and I read the
beginning of the letter, entitled 'The Voice of the Irish.' As I was
reading the beginning of the letter, I thought that I heard in my mind
the voices who dwelt near the woods of Foclut, which is near the
Western sea, and they cried out: 'We entreat thee, O holy youth, to
come and walk still with us.' My heart was deeply touched; I could read
no more; and I awoke" ("Confession").

Being then in his thirtieth year when he had this vision, St. Patrick
could not be called a youth. He was a youth, however, at the time when
he escaped from his first captivity, and became acquainted with the
inhabitants of Foclut, who appealed to him in the vision as the youth
they had formerly known. They, consequently, besought him to come and
abide with them as he had done formerly, for this is the obvious
meaning of the words "We entreat thee, O holy youth, to come and walk
still with us."

It is probable, therefore, that St. Patrick sailed back from Killala
Bay, the nearest port to the woods of Foclut. It may readily be
surmised that if the saintly youth, so full of holy zeal, had to remain
for a few weeks, or even a few days, whilst the ship was completing its
cargo, he would have time to make friendly acquaintance with the
inhabitants near the woods, who doubtless received the friendless
stranger with kind hospitality.

This gives a simple solution of the difficulty proposed by Professor
Bury, who, relying on St. Patrick's friendly acquaintance with the
inhabitants of Foclut, states that Croagh Patrick, which is not far
from Foclut, and not Mount Slemish, was the scene of the Saint's
captivity.

If the ship's cargo consisted chiefly of Irish wolfhounds, so greatly
appreciated in Gaul, as Professor Bury suggests (p. 30), it would take
more than "a day or two" to collect a sufficient number for
exportation. There is nothing stated in the "Confession" to limit the
time that St. Patrick had to wait before the ship, sailed away from
port.

Moreover, in the solitude of Mount Slemish, absorbed in prayer and in