Merseyside Biography Pages
Saint Patrick's Cross Liverpool
Introduction
I was reading Stephen Harding's book "Viking Mersey" about his research on the Vikings of Merseyside. Stephen had produced evidence of a group of Vikings who had been forced out of Ireland in the 10th Century and eventually given permission to settle in the north west of England.
In an ancient record of Ireland known to modern historians as “The Three Fragments” is the story of the Irish Vikings who settled in the north west of England in 902AD:-
“The Norsemen, then departed from Ireland as we have said and Hingamund was their leader, and where they went to was the island of Britain (Anglesey). The men of Britain assembled against them, and they were driven by force from the territories of the men of Britain.
Afterwards Hingamund came with his forces to Edelfrida, Queen of the Saxons. Now Hingamund was asking lands of the Queen in which he would settle, and on which he would build huts and dwellings, for at this time he was weary of war. Then Edelfrida gave him lands near Chester, and he stayed there for a long time.
”The settlers lived in peace for some time before attempting to expand their territory by taking the city of Chester from the Saxons. It was a mixed community of settlers that included many Irishmen among the Norsemen and Danes:-
“Then the King, who was on the point of death, and the Queen sent messengers to the Irishmen who were among the pagans, for there were many Irish among the pagans, to say to the Irishmen, life and health to you from the King of the Saxons, who is in disease, and from his Queen, who has all authority over the Saxons, and they are certain that you are true and trusty friends to them. Therefore you should take their side; for they did not bestow any greater honour to a Saxon warror or cleric than to each warrior and cleric who came to them from Ireland, because this inimical race of pagans is equally hostile to you also."
Wirral has place names indicating an Irish element to this Viking settlement such as the name of the village Irby which means "settlement of the Irish". There's also St. Bridget's Church which is known to have been founded by Vikings from Ireland. There's information available about Wirral's Irish Viking past but I was interested to find out more about Liverpool's Irish Viking past.
I remembered there were traditions in Liverpool associated with St. Patrick. Could they have the same origins? If not where did they come from? I decided to investigate these traditions by focusing on their apparent source "Saint Patrick's Cross". This lost relic of medieval Liverpool has baffled historians for over two hundred years.
I was reading Stephen Harding's book "Viking Mersey" about his research on the Vikings of Merseyside. Stephen had produced evidence of a group of Vikings who had been forced out of Ireland in the 10th Century and eventually given permission to settle in the north west of England.
In an ancient record of Ireland known to modern historians as “The Three Fragments” is the story of the Irish Vikings who settled in the north west of England in 902AD:-
“The Norsemen, then departed from Ireland as we have said and Hingamund was their leader, and where they went to was the island of Britain (Anglesey). The men of Britain assembled against them, and they were driven by force from the territories of the men of Britain.
Afterwards Hingamund came with his forces to Edelfrida, Queen of the Saxons. Now Hingamund was asking lands of the Queen in which he would settle, and on which he would build huts and dwellings, for at this time he was weary of war. Then Edelfrida gave him lands near Chester, and he stayed there for a long time.
”The settlers lived in peace for some time before attempting to expand their territory by taking the city of Chester from the Saxons. It was a mixed community of settlers that included many Irishmen among the Norsemen and Danes:-
“Then the King, who was on the point of death, and the Queen sent messengers to the Irishmen who were among the pagans, for there were many Irish among the pagans, to say to the Irishmen, life and health to you from the King of the Saxons, who is in disease, and from his Queen, who has all authority over the Saxons, and they are certain that you are true and trusty friends to them. Therefore you should take their side; for they did not bestow any greater honour to a Saxon warror or cleric than to each warrior and cleric who came to them from Ireland, because this inimical race of pagans is equally hostile to you also."
Wirral has place names indicating an Irish element to this Viking settlement such as the name of the village Irby which means "settlement of the Irish". There's also St. Bridget's Church which is known to have been founded by Vikings from Ireland. There's information available about Wirral's Irish Viking past but I was interested to find out more about Liverpool's Irish Viking past.
I remembered there were traditions in Liverpool associated with St. Patrick. Could they have the same origins? If not where did they come from? I decided to investigate these traditions by focusing on their apparent source "Saint Patrick's Cross". This lost relic of medieval Liverpool has baffled historians for over two hundred years.
Saint Patrick
"As the ancient town cross of St. Patrick once stood on the fringe of it, where Vauxhall Road and Marybone join, perhaps it was in consequence that the district was chosen as a settlement by so many sons and daughters of Erin." - Liverpool Echo, 1929.
Thomas Burke in his "Catholic History of Liverpool" refers to the traditional belief that St. Patrick had visited Liverpool:-
"By this time the Jesuits had built a chapel in Lumber Street, Old Hall Street, and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin under the title of St. Mary. It was in the fitness of things that the site was chosen. Hard by was the pre-Reformation foundation in Chapel Street, while in the immediate neighbourhood was the spot where a well-founded tradition says St. Patrick preached on his way to the Isle of Man.
In Marybone, within a few yards of the present church of Holy Cross, a water fountain marks the place on which stood for centuries St. Patrick's Cross, as marked on old maps of the town, and which was in existence as late as 1775. In an Act of Parliament passed in 1771, to secure the repair of the road between Preston and Liverpool, the cross is specially named, because the street now called Marybone was then 'the road to Ormskirk'.
The neighbourhood possessed other traditions of Ireland's patron saint, the street between Cheapside and Hatton Garden bearing the name of St. Patrick's Hill."
Thomas Burke also made a passing comment about the disappearance of St. Patrick's Cross. I would like to know the source of his belief that the cross was destroyed. He mentions the loss of St. Patrick's Cross here where he is discussing the statue at St. Patrick's church:-
"The fine statue of St. Patrick which stands outside the church was ordered by (John Brancker) from a Dublin firm of sculptors and placed in position in November, 1827. It has the distinction of being the first Catholic emblem displayed to public gaze in Liverpool since St. Patrick's Cross in Marybone had been destroyed."
James Wallace acknowledges the antiquity of St. Patrick's Cross:-
"There is nothing more of antiquity relating to Liverpool, excepting an old cross, which formerly stood at the corner of Pinfold-Lane, opposite the Flashes, and reported to have been placed there in commemoration of St. Patrick, who is said to have rested here on his passage to Ireland."
Richard Brooke tells us about an old statue in Liverpool:-
"In 1815 the present handsome Gothic tower and lanthorn (of Liverpool Parish Church) were erected. In early times the image of St. Patrick stood in the church yard, and mariners going to sea used to offer up vows and prayers before it; but, with the decline of an ignorant and superstitious age, the image disappeared."
A note of caution about Brooke's identification of the statue. Other historians referencing the old statue say it was an image of St. Nicholas and I am inclined to agree with them. The full name of Liverpool Parish Church is "Our Lady and St. Nicholas with St. Anne". St. Nicholas is also known for his patronage of mariners amongst other things!
William Enfield criticises the stories about St. Patrick in Liverpool:-
"But it would be little entertainment to the reader to detain him longer in the pursuit of doubtful facts, or to puzzle him with conjectures which must after all be involved in uncertainty. Nor would it answer any valuable purpose, to amuse him with the traditional story of St. Patrick's visit to Leverpool in his way to Ireland, in commemoration of which a cross was erected, that still gives name to the place where it formerly stood; or to embellish this history with any of those marvellous tales which are the natural offspring of ignorance and superstition, and which the credulous vulgar will always preserve from oblivion without the aid of historical records."
Sir James Picton comments on St. Patrick's Cross:-
"At the cross-roads stood St. Patrick's Cross, an ancient structure, the street immediately adjoining being called Patrick's Hill. There exists no information whatever as to the time of erection of this or any of the other crosses; but imagination, as is usual in such cases, supplies the deficiency. It has been gravely propounded that St. Patrick sailed from Liverpool in A.D. 444 on his way to evangelise the Irish, and that the cross was erected to commemorate the event!
se non è vero, è ben trovato
(Latin to English translation: "even if it is not true, it is well conceived")
Those who are inclined to believe it have at least the advantage of challenging the incredulous to prove it was not so. The cross remained down to about 1775, at which period persons not very long deceased remembered to have seen its remains."
Old Liverpool
Thomas Baines tells us that King John encouraged the growth of Liverpool to support his interests in Ireland:-
“No member of the warlike house of Plantagenet was more eager to expand his dominions than King John, although his expeditions were badly planned, and rarely crowned with success. One of his favourite objects was to complete the Conquest of Ireland, which had been commenced in the time of his father. For this purpose it was desirable that he should possess a strong navy in the Irish Seas, and ports to shelter it on the western coast of England.”
Ramsey Muir explains why King John wanted to use a port in Lancashire rather than Cheshire:-
"John was anxious to complete the conquest of Ireland, which had begun in his father's reign; and for this purpose he wished to use the men and supplies of his Lancashire lands. But he had no convenient port of embarkation. There was no port at all in Lancashire, and Chester was too much under the control of its powerful and independent earl. In the year 1206 John travelled through Lancashire from north to south, and it was probably on this journey that his attention was caught by the convenient sheltered creek of Liverpool."
James Wallace expressed his frustration that no one had documented Liverpool's ancient structures. This lack of coverage in the surviving records makes it impossible to date most of Liverpool's crosses:-
“it appears, that a high or principle cross was at this time (1640s) standing on the spot, where the present exchange is now erected; and it is somewhat remarkable, that no writers, ancient or modern, have made any mention of it. St. Patrick's cross is noticed, and there is every reason to believe, that the principal cross, in the very centre of the town, would have been more deserving of description; it might have been a very beautiful erection, such ornaments being almost general throughout the kingdom, whereon it was usual to bestow much expense, perhaps, in compliment to the taste of Edward the first who had erected them in honour of his Queen. The town record undoubtably mentioned this cross, but it is very singular, that neither painting nor engaving has conveyed an idea of the form and sculpture of this, nor of that of St. Patrick.”
Richard Brooke tells us about the different Liverpool crosses and the markets associated with some of them:-
“We can scarcely doubt that Liverpool had a market from about the time of its becoming a borough; but it is not known where the market was held, until after the middle of the 16th century, when it was established at the High Cross, for butcher's meat, fish, and vegetables. This cross was at the junction of the four main streets of the town, and was removed, in 1673, on the occasion of the preparations for the building of the then Exchange or Town-hall.
The general market was held for a considerable time in the vicinity of High-street, and of the Exchange; and another was established at the White Cross, little more than about a hundred yards distant, at the upper part of Chapel-street, near the place where the north entrance of the Exchange-buildings now is. The latter was, for a long time the principal market for potatoes, supplied for the most part from Formby and it's vicinity, which are considered by many, even to this day, the best in Great Britain. The place for holding the White Cross market was changed to St. John's Market, in 1822.
Another market, which afterwards became the principal one for the sale of provisions, vegetables, butter, and other articles usually sold in a market, was established early in the last century, in Derby-square, and on the south side St. George's Church, where Alderman Tarleton afterwards erected an obelisk of red stone, which was called “The Red Cross”, or “Tarleton's Obelisk”; and after its establishment, the more ancient market in the vicinity of High-street and the Exchange, became disused, except as to the butchers' shambles, which remained there many years after 1775.
At that date the only markets for general purposes were two; of which the principal was the general one already mentioned, held in Derby-square, and near St. George's Church. The other general market has also been mentioned before, and was called the White Cross Market; it was on a very small and reduced scale.”
According to Brooke's source only a portion of St. Patrick's Cross had survived by about 1775:-
“The lower end of Tithebarn-street, between Hatton-garden and Cheapside (formerly called Dig-lane,) was then called St. Patrick's-hill; at the foot of which, and at the end of Pinfold-lane, now Vauxhall-road, stood a portion of St. Patrick's Cross. The remains of it were there three or four years after 1775 – communicated by Mr. John Wilson of Orrell, who remembered a portion of it standing.
In former times, besides the White Cross and St. Patrick's Cross, there were two other crosses in Liverpool; one the High Cross, near where the front of the Town-hall now is, and the other the Town-end Cross, near where St. Stephen's Church, in Byrom-street now stands. St. Patrick's Cross, and the Pinfold near it, are both laid down in Mr. Perry's Map of Liverpool, of 1769.”
Brooke says St. Patrick's Cross was named in connection to proposed work to be carried out on the road to Preston:-
“the first act for repairing and widening having been passed in the year 1771, 'in the 11th George the Third, Chapter 93, An Act for repairing and widening the road from Patrick's Cross, within the town of Liverpoole, in the county palatine of Lancaster, to the town of Preston, in the same county of palatine'."
Trade & Migration
Liverpool wasn't established yet as a port when St. Patrick was said to have visited on his way to Ireland or the Isle of Man. Liverpool was so insignificant in earlier times that it wasn't mentioned in the Domesday Book. The River Dee ports of Chester and Parkgate were more likely places to get a ship to go across the Irish Sea. The silting up of the River Dee eventually caused the use of these ports to go into decline. After Liverpool was established as a port it would have been in regular contact with people from around the Irish Sea. The port's main trade was with Ireland and the Isle of Man. Both of these places had a special reverence for St. Patrick.
Ramsey Muir gives us an indication of the influence of the Irish Sea trade on Liverpool and the Irish presence in Liverpool in the later Middle Ages:-
"There were Irish names among the burgesses as early as 1378."
Any significant Irish presence in Liverpool at this time would have been greater than the number of Irish names. There could have been some Irish-born people in Liverpool with English or Norman names. It's a pity Ramsey Muir did not elaborate on this comment by providing examples of Irish names in the Liverpool records.
John Corry tells us about the Irish merchants coming to Liverpool:-
"At the commencement of the sixteenth century, Leland, in his travels through England, paid a visit to Liverpool; of which he gives the following curious account:-
'Lyrpole, alias Lyverpoole, a pavid town, hath but a chapel. Walton a IIII miles off, not far from the se, is the paroche chirch; the king has a castalet there, and the earl of Derbe hath a stone-house there. Irish marchants cum much thither, as to a good haven; after that Mersey water cumming towards Runcorn in Cheshire, liseth among the commone people the name, and is called Lyrpole.
At Lyrpole is small custume paid, that causeth merchant to resorte: good merchandise at Lyrpole, and much Yrish yarn, that Manchester men do by there'
The trade to Ireland must have been productive of wealth to its inhabitants. The circumstance of its being 'a pavid town', is a proof that the burgesses had made a considerable progress in civilisation; for, in that remote age, a pavement was considered as an ornament, nay even as a luxury.
The linen yarn purchased of the Irish by the manufacturers of Manchester formed, at that time, the principal article of their manufactures; but silk being soon afterwards introduced from Italy, Flanders and Spain, and the art discovered of mixing it with wool, the linen manufacture declined both in England and Ireland."
The burgesses or freemen of Liverpool were in charge of the town's markets and usually regulated trade giving themselves priviledges over other residents or "foreigners" to the town.
Ramsey Muir tells us about the special arrangement which allowed Irish traders and their customers to be excluded from the interference of these middlemen:-
"The freemen intended to have all middleman profits. One exception only was allowed to this rule: sheep-skins and yarns could be sold direct by foreigners to foreigners, because they were chiefly sold by Irish traders to Manchester weavers, who came to Liverpool, to buy them."
Sir James Picton refers to Liverpool's links to Waterford and Wexford:-
"By ancient prescriptive custom the freemen of Waterford and Wexford were held free of the town's customs in Liverpool, with the same immunity for Liverpool freemen in the two Irish ports."
The Stanley family who were later the Earls of Derby were described as patrons of the town. They had burgages in Liverpool themselves so were beneficiaries of the success of the town. They also needed its shipping to support their interests across the Irish Sea. The family had a fortified residence in the town where they would stay when travelling to the Isle of Man. "The Tower of Liverpool" was located on the river side of the town with a view of all the shipping entering or leaving the town.
Ramsey Muir tells us how the Stanleys became involved in Liverpool:-
"Stanley was a man of immense boldness and vigour, and he rapidly made himself the most powerful magnate of South Lancashire. As a reward for his services at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 he received large grants from the forfeited estates of the rebellious Percies. Among these was included the Isle of Man, of which the Stanleys remained kings, owing fealty to the King of England, until 1737.
Desiring a link between his Lancashire lands and his new dominion, and a base for men and supplies, Sir John Stanley, in 1406, obtained leave to fortify a house of stone and lime in Liverpool. This house was the Liverpool Tower, which remained standing at the bottom of Water Street until 1819, and is today represented by Tower Buildings.
Liverpool thus became the official point of contact between England and the Isle of Man, and this may have been good for trade.
"The Gaelic speaking people of the Isle of Man had a special reverence for St. Patrick. The following extracts from 'William Cashen's Manx Folk-Lore' refer to some Manx traditions involving St. Patrick:-
"'Laa'l Parick arree yn dow gys ee staik dooinney gys e ihiabbee'
On St. Patrick's Day the ox was supposed to be tied to the stake, and the man to his bed at dark. No light was expected to be lighted after St. Patrick's Day. It was supper at dark, and then to bed, both man and beast.
The following prayer, 'Jeeagh Parick orrin! - 'Patrick look upon us!' I have heard said hundreds of times, it has probably been handed down to us from pre-reformation times.
In putting out to sea, once clear of the harbour, all hands on board the boat, at an intimation of the skipper, took their hats off and had silent prayer. One of their prayers was as follows:
'Dy bannee Parick Noo shin as nyn maatey' - 'May St. Patrick bless us and our boat'
or
'Parick Noo bannee yn Ellan ain, dy bannee eh shin as yn baatey, goll magh dy mie, heet stiagh ny share lesh bio as marroo sy vaatey' - 'St. Patrick, who blessed our island, may he bless us and our boat, going out well, coming in better with living and dead in the boat'".
The Isle of Man has a St. Patrick's Isle containing ruins of a St. Patrick's church. The isle was said to be the first place where St. Patrick set foot when he arrived in the Isle of Man. The island also remembers various Celtic saints in the names of its parishes among them is the parish of Patrick. The Isle of Man and Ireland share an association with St. Patrick and the symbol of the Celtic cross.
Irish people first started coming to Liverpool in large numbers after the turmoil of the rebellion of 1798. A great influx of Irish people of all classes and religions occurred in Liverpool in the year 1798. It marked the beginning of a regular flow of Irish migrants that would transform Liverpool's population, culture and even the local accent.
John Corry mentions the influx of Irish people in Liverpool in 1798:-
"In the summer of 1798, so great was the influx of persons of every description into this town, from Ireland, that house rent, and the price of lodgings were greatly advanced, and have continued exhorbitantly high since that period. Many respectable Irish families, who came over to Liverpool as a place of refuge from the horrors of rebellion and martial law, have settled here, and contributed at once to the wealth and population of the place. At the same time it must be acknowledged, that many very immoral characters of the lower classes have also emigrated from Ireland hither; but the vigilance of a well regulated police will, doubtless, repress the operations of criminality in this town, whether native or foreign."
Richard Brooke comments on Irish migration to Liverpool:-
"With respect to Irish families, there were comparitively few of any class, either high or low, in Liverpool, until the rebellion of 1798; but afterwards the Union caused a considerable change in that respect. When the facility of coming over from Ireland is taken into account, the previous paucity of the Irish, may well seem extraordinary to those who now witness the vast numbers of Irish, of the lower class, who swarm by the thousands in the small courts, alleys, and backstreets of the some of the districts of Liverpool. A number of Irish, of all classes, came to Liverpool in 1798, who had left Ireland to avoid the miseries of rebellion, and the unhappy state of affairs which then prevailed there. That circumstance would, no doubt, add something to the population of Liverpool; but there were also the widely extending commerce of the port, and many other causes which combined to affect it, so that the increase of the population became very considerable before the close of the 18th century."
A lot of the early Irish migrants to Liverpool appear to have settled in the Marybone and Vauxhall Road neighbourhood near to the former location of St. Patrick's Cross. Perhaps they were initially drawn to the area by the existence or memory of a local landmark called St. Patrick's Cross and the folklore about the area's Irish connections. In 1841 Vauxhall Ward could still claim to have more Irish-born residents than any other Liverpool ward. It had even more than the much larger Scotland Ward. By 1851 Scotland Ward had more Irish-born residents due to the population explosion caused by the large influx of Irish famine migrants in the late 1840s.
The geographical distribution of Irish-born residents in fourteen Liverpool wards 1841-51
Irish migration to Liverpool indicated by the number of Irish-born residents of Liverpool
Theories
Is there a connection between St. Patrick's Cross and the Irish Vikings who settled on Merseyside in the 10th Century? There isn't any archaeological or historical evidence for such a link. The Vikings don't appear to have had a significant presence in central Liverpool. Could the cross still have had Irish or Celtic origins? Irish and Welsh Celtic missionaries were active in the Dark Ages trying to revive the old Roman communities and convert the pagans after the fall of the Roman Empire. These missionaries did bring Celtic Christianity to parts of England so their involvement is a possibility.
St. Patrick's Cross was more likely set up as a "Way Marker" cross after the foundation of the borough of Liverpool. It was located on the fringes of the town and it was known to have been a landmark that was mentioned in relation to a route to other places. Its construction appears to have been functional rather than commemorative. The cross was on a route out of town taken by people going to the parish church at Walton. The church at Walton has very ancient roots and was Liverpool's parish church until 1699.
The design of the cross may have led people to believe that it was Irish or associated with St. Patrick. It's possible that Irish or Manx masons living in Liverpool c13th to 15th century were commissioned to construct the cross. Unfortunately there are no surviving records from this period. It's interesting that there was a place of burial and habitation for plague victims on the outskirts of the town called "Sick Man's Lane". Picton identifies the modern location as Addison Street. St. Patrick's Cross would have been on the funeral path of processions going between the town and "Sick Man's Lane".
Over time the original function of the cross was lost and people from Ireland and the Isle of Man may have contributed to the folklore concerning its possible origins. The visit of St. Patrick to Liverpool was probably suggested as the reason why an Irish looking cross was in Liverpool. During the English Civil War Liverpool endured three sieges and the cross may have suffered some damage during this turbulent time. The remains of the cross might have been removed while improvements were carried out to the road in Georgian times.
Sources
Bibliography
Baines, Thomas
"History of the commerce and town of Liverpool, and of the rise of manufacturing industry in the adjoining counties" Published: 1850
Brooke, Richard
"Liverpool as it was during the last quarter of the eighteenth century (1775-1800)"
Published: 1853
Burke, Thomas
"Catholic History of Liverpool"
Published: 1910
Cashen, William
"William Cashen's Manx Folk-Lore"
Published: 1912
Corry, John
"The history of Liverpool, from the earliest authenticated period down to the present times"
Published: 1810
Enfield, William
"An essay towards the history of Leverpool"
Published: 1774
Foster, Sir Idris Llewelyn
(1911-1984)
English translation of "The Three Fragments"
Harding, Stephen
"Viking Mersey"
Published: 2002
Leland, John
"The Itinerary of John Leland The Antiquary"
Published: 1769
Muir, Ramsey
"A History of Liverpool"
Published: 1907
Picton, Sir James
"Memorials of Liverpool"
Published: 1875
Wallace, James
"A general and descriptive history of the ancient and present state, of the town of Liverpool, comprising, a review of its government, police, antiquities, and modern improvements; the progressive increase of street, square, public buildings, and inhabitants, together with a circumstantial account of the true causes of its extensive African trade: the whole carefully compiled from original manuscripts, authentic records, and other warranted authorities"
Published: 1795