the two faiths mixed easily

I am extremely skeptical about this statement.
Now if the snakes were Druids (supposedly called snakes for their headwear, and they were "banished" (murdered?) I suppose that could frighten the Celts into some compliance. With the Wise, respected Druids gone there could've been anarchy, but we are to believe they peacefully melded together?

zoologists say there never were snakes in Ireland, and historians suggest that the snakes refer instead to the druids, who had their own non-Christian religion.

The symbol of the Coptic church of Egypt is the snake. Travel Ireland by sea was easier from North Africa than from Rome. Ireland had Christianity long before Patrick but not the Roman version. How else to explain the major difference between the Irish church and Roman as to when Easter fell? Patrick had it wrong. Don't think so. The tradition for Coptic Easter and Irish Easter was the same.

A special Synod of Whitby had to called to sort out the Irish Schism!!!

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

...and there's far more to this than this. An unique Irish singing tradition is indistinguishable from north Africa. And much more. For Easter I hope to post a clip on the Synod of Whitby.