Why are there no snakes in Ireland?
There are no snakes in Ireland because they can’t get there. The climates of Ireland and England are, and always have been, nearly identical in broad terms. If anything, Ireland’s climate is usually cited as milder than England’s. And, the ice age that “ended” 10-15,000 years ago affected England just as much as it did Ireland. And, St. Patrick, while he may be the patron saint of Ireland, was actually English himself. And England has snakes, so he clearly didn’t drive any snakes out of England, which he certainly would have done, if there were any truth to that theory. So, those arguments are just plain blarney, or “phooey”, as you put it. The plain fact of the matter is that there never have been any snakes in Ireland in the post-glacial era. When the ice retreated, the rodents advanced as the zone of ‘warm enough’ moved North, and the snakes followed. They were apparently able to cross the English Channel by rafting across it on logs and such. But the Irish Sea, which separates Irel
