They had different clans, kings, and homes on their island, but they all shared Patrick. That one man and his green shamrock became the soul of Ireland. Which, in a blink of history, was all the Irish had left. After restoring Christianity to Europe following the Germanic tribes destruction of Rome, and repelling those pesky Vikings, the Irish fell victim to an unfortunate accident of geography. Beginning in the 12th century, long before they boasted of the sun never setting on their empire, the English came riding in on horseback, covered with armor, and systematically slaughtered the Irish.
Life is simple, so let's be honest about it.
That's what happened. The Irish people were first made subjects in their own country. When they resisted subjection, they were killed or driven off the soil they had occupied since before Patrick's messiah was born. It wasn't a romantic time of plantations and giddy drunk peasants smoking pipes, dancing and having fistfights under thatched roofs. That's history told by the winner.