Mieclu

Mieclu was a hard Irish landowner who claimed young Patrick as payment for another man's debt. His intervention kept Patrick from being sacrificed by druids, but it exchanged one danger for six years of slavery. Mieclu gave the captive hay in a barn for a bed, tied him at night, and later trusted him to tend sheep in the lonely western hills. Those years gave Patrick time to remember his parents' teaching and grow in faith. When Patrick asked Mieclu to honor an earlier promise of freedom, the landowner refused because his skilled shepherd had become too valuable. Mieclu secretly ordered him restrained, but Patrick escaped before the command could be carried out and began the long journey home.