St Valentine’s Day - The Dublin Connection While there are not a whole lot of definitive accounts of St Valentine’s life in the 3rd century AD, it is believed that on February 14 278AD, Valentine was beaten with clubs and then executed by beheading for defying a marriage and engagement ban put in place by Roman Emperor Claudius II. Valentine, then working as a Christian priest, continued to marry couples in private and paid for it with his life. St Valentine's Irish Resting Place Wh...