It’s the season where folks celebrate St. Patrick, the man best known for banishing snakes from the green fields of Ireland.
Yes, once upon a time, snakes were slithering and sliding around the Irish countryside, but their disappearance had absolutely nothing to do with any divine intervention.
Legend has it that St. Paddy stood on a hilltop, dressed in his formal green attire, and waved his staff to herd all the slithering creatures into the sea, expelling them from the Emerald Isle forever. And low and behold, there hasn’t been a snake seen in Ireland since 461 AD (expect for the odd household pet and zoo creature).
Snakes, according to the Smithsonian website, are just lizards with no feet. When snakes first evolved – about 100 million years ago – Ireland was still submerged under water, so migrating to Ireland wasn’t an option for the serpents.
However, when the ocean finally did drop and Ireland surfaced, it was attached to mainland Europe, therefore allowing the slithery creatures, to make their way onto the land.
However, just three million years ago the ice age arrived, turning all snakes into popsicles. And since then, the climate has changed more than 20 times, often blanketing Ireland with ice. Because snakes are cold-blooded animals, they can’t survive in areas where the ground is frozen, so they all had an icy ending.
According to scientists, the last time Ireland was covered in ice was 15,000 years ago. After this time a snake would have comfortably survived in Ireland. However, Ireland had by then separated itself from mainland Europe, causing a 12-mile water gap – the North Channel – between Ireland and neighboring Scotland. The channel became a barrier that no terrestrial snake could cross. So the moral of the story is, there are no slimy slithering serpents roaming the Irish countryside today because they have simply no way of getting there.
So why has St. Patrick been so heavily hailed as the hero that banished snakes from Ireland? Well, some believe that the snake was a symbol of paganism and it is St. Paddy that can be accredited for ridding Ireland of paganism and bringing Christianity to the green isle.
14 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Seanmor | Apr 07, 2013, 05:10 PM EDT
Scores of these reptile creatures reappeared in human form as paid informers at trials of Provo suspects in the North of Ireland during the '70s and '80s, where they were known as Supergrass Snakes, some of which seemed venomous.
89west | Mar 17, 2013, 11:14 AM EDT
I always heard they went to England and became contractors.
CavanAncestor | Mar 17, 2013, 09:22 AM EDT
I believe it was attributed to Brendan Behan that the snakes actually came to America and became politicians.
jerryoneill | Mar 27, 2010, 01:08 PM EDT
Too bad he didn't get the ones with the white collars.
jerryoneill | Mar 27, 2010, 01:06 PM EDT
Too bad he didn't get the ones with the white collars.
CathyJo | Mar 15, 2010, 03:28 PM EDT
there is another explanation for the St Pat/snake connection. You'll find a version of it in Padraic Colum/s "A Treasury of Irish Folklore". It seems one of the Old Norse words was "paud", meaning "toad" or other lizard/reptile sorts. Norsemen came to Ireland, they realized there were no such creatures and were told that "St PAUD-rig" sent the little beasties packing--which was among the first Irish leg-pulls on tourists. There is at least one song that mentions Patrick banishing the toads, which adds credence to the tale.
PolinDeB | Mar 13, 2010, 10:40 PM EST
There is no snakes.. and i think never was, the snakes seem to be a simile... The annals.. see www.ucc.org/CELT don't mention it so it's probably not true. But they do mention his trip to Tara to convert the King.. it's on our facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=app_2373072738&gid=337437531415#!/topic.php?uid=337437531415&topic=14457
xingxiirl | Mar 12, 2010, 10:39 AM EST
No sure should I take comments seriously. Evolution comment; evolution takes many forms some with legs and some without legs and comments implied that evolution is over, far from it everything is still evolving and legs will come and go. Also the land bridge lasted a lot longer between the UK and Europe then it did between Ireland and the UK allowing snakes to return to the uk after the last ICE age, Also many snake like animals have been spotted in co. Mayo recently.
mandokeith | Mar 12, 2010, 09:24 AM EST
If lizards are evolved snakes then why are there still snakes? They should have all evolved into lizards by now. Evolution is a lie, God created snakes, lizards and everything else. Thank-you St. Patrick for driving them out!
mandokeith | Mar 12, 2010, 09:24 AM EST
Actually they all went to work for Fox noise.
mumbleyou | Mar 12, 2010, 08:43 AM EST
What did St. Patrick say to the snakes when he was driving them out of Ireland? Are ye alright in the back there lads!!!!
Padraig | Mar 12, 2010, 08:12 AM EST
battlefront. great laughs but ....sadly true.
zarfman | Mar 11, 2010, 09:57 PM EST
Hi: You wrote: Because snakes are cold-blooded animals, they can’t survive in areas where the ground is frozen, so they all had an icy ending. I live in Northern Wisconsin, USA. In the winter ice on our lakes freeze to a depth three feet in thickness. Our ground freezes to more than that. AND we have snakes. Regards' Zarfman
battlefront | Mar 08, 2010, 04:08 PM EST
No he did'nt ban them from Ireland. He left them behind to run the Country and the Church