Saint Patrick worked as a herder while enslaved in Ireland.
According to Patrick’s own autobiographical Confessio, Irish raiders captured him at age 16 and took him from Britain to Ireland. He spent six years there in captivity, tending animals in a rural setting. “Herder” is therefore the accurate broad description; “shepherd” is also commonly used because later summaries describe him specifically as tending sheep.
Patrick’s captivity became central to his story. He wrote that isolation, hardship and prayer transformed his faith, and that a dream or voice eventually told him to escape. He travelled roughly 200 Roman miles to a port, found a ship and returned to his family after several years away.
The account comes from Patrick’s own surviving Latin writings, but many later details about his life are legendary. His birthplace, the exact location of his enslavement and the identity of his captors remain uncertain. The familiar story of Patrick as Ireland’s missionary belongs to the period after this captivity.