You may never have heard of him, but we owe him a deep debt of gratitude. Luke Wadding is the man we can all thank, praise or blame for making St. Patrick’s Day the day it is.
Wadding, a Co. Waterford native born in October 1558, was a Franciscan priest ordained in 1607 and sent as chaplain to Rome in 1618.
He soon began raising funds for an Irish college for clerical students to study for the priesthood.
He had accumulated great power in Rome and succeeded in his quest. It opened in 1625, and Wadding became head of the Irish College there for decades after.
A fierce Irish nationalist, he had no time at all for the British and their occupation of Ireland. He strongly supported the Irish Catholic uprising in the war of 1641, and his college became a hotbed of opposition to the British.
Wadding sent soldiers and arms to Ireland, and persuaded Pope Innocent X to send Archbishop Giovanni Rinuccini there as his representative.
Rinuccini went with a huge quantity of arms, including 20,000 pounds of gunpowder and a large sum of money to help the Irish rebels who he hoped would declare an independent Catholic Ireland.
Alas he failed in his task, partly because of internal Irish strife (what’s new?) and returned to Rome in 1649, leaving Ireland at the mercy later of Oliver Cromwell, who crushed the Irish rebellion.
Efforts were made to make Luke Wadding a cardinal, but his enemies prevented it. He was by far the strongest advocate of the Irish cause in Rome and met several popes to push it. He was so effective that generations later his spirit lived on in the Irish college.
In the late 19th century Sir George Errington was sent by British Prime Minister William Gladstone to Rome to explain the Irish question and ask for support for the British position.
He came back empty handed, explaining that the Irish politicians in Ireland were utter moderates compared to priests and staff at the Irish College.
Wadding succeeded against all the odds in making St. Patrick’s Day a feast day, after which it was wholeheartedly embraced by the Catholic Church, making it a worldwide day of celebration.
Though the day had been observed from around the 10th century, Wadding was the one who put the power of the church behind it. His legacy has come down the ages to us.
In 1900, his portrait and part of his library were placed in the Franciscan convent on Merchant's Quay in Dublin and his life story was written by Francis Harold, his nephew.
So spare a thought for Luke Wadding this St. Patrick’s Day.
Without him we would likely never have the grand occasion we celebrate this week.