What was it that made Ireland and the Irish to go Roman Catholic?

Question

Why did the Irish side with a religion from the south of Europe and not protestant and the Northern Europeans religions?

Answer 1

St. Patrick was doing a special offer type thingy. Join our club and I will get rid of all the vicious snakes about. Still no poisonous snakes here. Good lad.

Answer 2

the catholics have a long history of appealing to the masses by relating native religions with catholic holidays   for instance december 25th is actually originally a celtic or pagan holiday.  I,m not sure wich one but maybe someone else knows more about that

Answer 3

Loads. The Plantations but The Reformation is probably the biggest factor of them all.

= )

Answer 4

I believe you have already been given the answer, but to answer Matt: The Celtic people were known for being Pagan, usually following Druidism or Druidry.

A good deal of Druidism was added onto Christianity to make it easier for them to convert. Such as St. Brigid, turn her into a Christian Saint and it makes them accept it easier.

Technically viewing it that way, they never gave up Paganism. Since in Christianity you are not meant to follow any means of any other religion, including a Christmas Tree - which is also Pagan, but of Norse background.

And the date December 25th was actually a Roman Pagan birthday of a Sun god.

Answer 5

You mean the Republic of Ireland as the north is mostly protestant and British.

Answer 6

Catholicism was around before Protestantism.  Irish people just never changed to Protestantism, rather than actively making a choice to go Catholic.

Answer 7

Well, if you knew anything about the history of the religion, you would know that Catholicism was around long before any of the Protestant religions, so the Irish stuck with the older ways. I suppose there was a political element to this, but now religion and politics are slowly becoming separate, and this is good.

Answer 8

They've always been Roman Catholics and never converted to the Church of England when England did. England was Roman Catholic too before Henry VIII

Answer 9

The fact of the matter is that all of europe was once roman catholic,

The irish catholic monks re enllightened europe during the dark ages.

The fact that you call catholism a southern european religon, makes me question your intellegence.  You probably believe in creationism as well