"The Irish of the fifth century were a pagan, violent, and barbaric people. Human sacrifice was commonplace..."
Bull dinkus!!!
This statement is not rooted in truth whatsoever and is typical of Greco-Roman propoganda that was popularized by the murderous destruction of all things Celtic by bloody Julius Caesar. The anti-druid/anti-celtic PR found its roots in a time when Rome and Greece got their arses kicked by Celtic tribes that held their city states in check. Greco-Roman historians were known to stretch the truth regarding the Celts, particularly the druid priests to push their agenda. Sort of like how the Arabs paint Jews as blood thirsty subhumans.
Chuck Colson's whimsical history makes it sound like the Irish were blood thirsty subhumans before Patricius showed up. Nothing can be further from the truth. You all can check Irish history, both written and oral, to find that Ireland had a large population of christians--just the wrong kind of christians for Catholic taste--before the appearance of Patricius.
The truth is Ireland wasn't organized under the Roman form of church government. Ireland wasn't guided by specific dogma from a Pope, or an ecclesiastical council. In fact, many Irish christians were converts of earlier missionaries from Christ's era as well as christian traders. The Irish christians practiced the older form of Judaic-christianity found among the practioners in Jerusalem, Nazareth, and early Antioch, with some strong Irish influences thrown in. Apparently the rulings of the Councils of Nicea and Laodocea never reached the Irish ear or heart before AD432.
The rest of the population in Ireland were civilized, highly organized clans that tolerated ideas so long as it did not destroy the clans. The druids were keepers of oral history, sacred traditions, and helped moderate judicial proceedings within the clans.
Ireland was also a very wealthy island. Ancient texts talk about the abundance of gold that used to be in Ireland. And of course, the land was rich and well-watered for agriculture.
When Rome departed from Britain, it was Irish kings and adventurers that began to colonize Scotland (Scotti is an Irish name), Wales, and southwestern Britain in the 5th century. The Irish had sizeable colonies in the Welsh penisula. This is the time when Patricius, A ROMAN Brit, was enslaved and brought to Ireland.
Patricius escaped enslavement. He fled to Roman territory and later converted to Catholicism and in time became a bishop.
Around AD431, the Pope in Rome thought it was high time to convert Ireland to the catholic form of christianity. He sent Bishop Palladius as first missionary but he died around AD432. So he sent the former slave of a minor Irish chief, our legendary hero Patricius.
Upon his return to Ireland, the ROMAN Brit, Patricius, first met with a minor chief-king named Leohaire (Leary), a son of Naill of the Nine Hostages (the northern O'Neill clan). It should be noted that Leary never converted. However, Leary's son was made bishop in time.
Patricius made his way up and down Ulster, the northeastern portions of Ireland. He never covered all of Ireland. He did missionary work from AD432 to AD461 and was the key to later Roman domination of the christian churches on the island. Bishop Patricius, the ROMAN British slave, was none other than Patrick.
Unlike the tall tale Rome likes to tell about Patrick, Roman Catholicism did not take hold in Ireland until the 6th century--nearly 100 years after Patrick's death. And even then, the druid control was never fully wrested from the Irish mind. Later, the bloodthirsty subhuman Irish played a vital role in salvaging and protecting European intellectual property and learning. In point of fact, Ireland was saving the European braintrust while the English were living in mud and grass huts learning Danish and French from their overlords!
I have read many sources on this topic: One book that is more interested in historic fact than mythical fancies is "A History Of Ireland" by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry. One thing is for sure, Patrick did not convert bloodthirsty subhumans into good little catholics. If you believe that fable, I have a stone you can kiss in the Emerald Isle.
For more information on Cahill and the Frys see:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=A+history+of+Ireland&z=y&cds2Pid=9481