It's St. Paddy's Day, and if your social media is anything like mine, it's full of posts from pagans, witches, and druids claiming that the 'snakes' that Saint Patrick drove out of Ireland actually refers to a violent expulsion of Eire's last druids and/or pagans... but were they?
Short answer?
No.
As far as history can tell (including the man's own words), St. Paddy had very little impact on the pagan, druid, or snake population of Ireland.
For a longer, more detailed, and incredibly well-researched answer, see Morgan Daimler's Druids, Snakes, and a Mythic Saint.
If you prefer video, this little video by Lora O'Brien also goes over a few of the common misconceptions.
I know, I know, it's not as sexy or dramatic.. but that applies to a lot of pagan history.
Unfortunately a lot was poorly-researched and/or straight-up fabricated between the Victorian fascination with paganism, mythology, and folklore, and more modern sources.
If you're ever up for some myth-breaking, I can highly recommend checking out whether Ronald Hutton as a book (or any talks on youtube) on your topic of choice. I recently read his marvellous book The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (1996), and have just started reading his book on the history of druidry (and our perceptions of the druids), Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain (2009). Heads up: he is an academic, so even with his marvellous British sense of humour, his writing can be a bit dense... but it's so incredibly thoroughly and thoughtfully researched - you really can't beat it on quality!