During the years of Saint Patrick's life on Earth, the world was still living primarily under a feudal system of government and at that time Rome ruled the majority of the civilized world, then known as the Roman Empire. Rome controlled these feudal systems of government with an iron hand. The world was subject to the control of the Roman Empire and its religious beliefs that were at that time incorporating pagan rites into the so called “Christian” Church to entice more followers for the sole purpose of gaining more wealth and prestige, greater power over society as a whole. The Roman Empire could be very convincing. They were big, they were powerful and if you did not follow they could and would squash you like a bug. They were also very clever, shrewd. So long as you bowed to them politically, they would tolerate certain customs you held dear. A good example of this is found right in your Bible. The Romans, though they, as a society were polytheistic, allowed the Jewish community to practice their own beliefs so long as it did not interfere with Rome's government control. Call it freedom of religion and so long as it didn't cause an uprising, revolt, a war, Rome turned a blind eye.
In less than 300 years after Jesus, the Christ, walked and taught among us, and his disciples and apostles first organized the church, the faith, Gospel Jesus had instructed them to share, it had become tarnished nearly beyond recognition. It had incorporated the philosophies of man and claimed them to be right and good. Remember, Rome ruled the world at this time and if Rome said it was right, it had to be right. This was the philosophy that Saint Patrick knew and understood.
Ireland and the United Kingdom were all part of Britannia under the Roman Empire and only later, after the fall of Rome as a world government became separate nations. These were the days of the first King Arthur, not the King Arthur of the Knights of the Round Table; that King Arthur came a few years later though the world had not changed a whole lot by then and was still under the edicts of Rome and what would become the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope. “When in Rome do what the Romans do” and at that time, the times of Saint Patrick and the Kings Arthur, Rome owned the world.
At this time Britannia was overwhelmed by Pagan (polytheistic beliefs), Christianity and a pseudo-Christianity being promoted by Rome that were rapidly growing as well as the barbaric socio-political conspiracies of the feudal systems of government. These governments warred throughout all Britannia as Rome tried to unite these various factions; lesser kingdoms that existed, that were all existing under their own nobles, princes and kings, subject, of course, to Rome. These governments all desired greater power, wealth and prestige. The more land, people and property you controlled, the more favor you found in the eyes of Rome. The culture in Ireland at this time was pretty much undistinguishable from that of their Gaelic and Anglo-Saxon neighbors to the east. The only real difference was in their name, being called Druids, Picts and Celts, all of whom held to the polytheistic beliefs of the pre-Christian era. This is the world Saint Patrick grew up in.
Saint Patrick was born in what is now Britain to a family of wealth and a goodly amount of prestige. It is believed Patrick probably grew up in a feudal village called Banavan near the Scottish/English border in an area known as the Britains. He was, it is believed of Scottish heritage. Having lived in this region he would have been familiar with the Celtic, Gaelic and Anglo-Saxon philosophies. His father, it seems, may have been a Christian deacon, probably Celtic Christian, a man who also swore his allegiance to the Church of Rome though he probably was not particularly religious and at odds with many of the beliefs held by the then Roman Church as they differed from the early apostolic church that had been carried to Britannia soon after Jesus resurrection and ascension.
As with most of the wealthy of that day, Patrick's father probably was not particularly faithful to any particular religious conviction but bowed to Rome to protect their own wealth, being less taxed for your allegiance, a sort of “do what I say and I'll give you a break; refuse to do what I say and I'll break you,” pandering by Rome to the people they held captive under their rule. It is known that his father was a decurian, an official of the provincial government of Rome, thus making Patrick and his family Roman citizens, a sort of adopted kin. This was the philosophy and beliefs that Saint Patrick grew up with.
