Why are there no snakes on Ireland?
Miguel B
If you've been to Ireland, you probably know the importance of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. He's well known for converting the Irish to christianity and for a series of miracles, such as banishing all the snakes from Ireland.
According to the legend, he chased the snakes into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill.
You may believe this to be true, but the true explanation is that Ireland never had snakes, the same way that there are no snakes on Iceland, Greenland or the Antarctica.
"At no time has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland, so [there was] nothing for St. Patrick to banish", says naturalist Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, who has searched extensively through Irish fossil collections and records.
One suggestion is that "snakes" referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids during that time in Ireland. The Druids had big tattoos of snakes on their arms. In the legend of St. Patrick banishing snakes, the story goes to the core of Patrick's sainthood and his mission of christianising Ireland.