What did St Patrick do to force Ireland to convert to Christianity?

Answer 1

St Patrick preached the Gospel. He did not force anything.

St. Patrick was born about 385 in Scotland. His parents, Calpurnius and Conchessa, were Catholic Romans living in Britain in charge of the colonies. This might even make St. Patrick an Italian.

At the age of fourteen, raiders captured Patrick and took him as a slave to Ireland, a land of Druids and pagans. Patrick learned the Irish language and customs. While a slave, Patrick's faith in God grew and he wrote "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was raised, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

When Patrick was twenty, he had a dream in which God told him to leave Ireland by going to the coast. He escaped and found a boat that took him back to Britain and his family. Later Patrick dreamed that Irish were calling, "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more." Patrick studied, became a priest, and, later, a bishop.

In 433, he went to take the Gospel to Ireland. Patrick preached the Gospel throughout Ireland, converted thousands, and began building churches. Patrick is famous for using the shamrock (a three-leaf clover) to explain the Trinity. Patrick preached for 40 years and died on March 17, 461 at Saul, where he had built the first church. Patrick's feast day is March 17 and he is the patron saint of Ireland.