Wow, when I read that your family’s faith went back to the time of St. Patrick, your family has a large family tree in that regards.
Our formation came from our grandmother, in many ways, in addition to school, home, etc.
She got her faith from her grandmother, who grew up in Ireland, and was born there in 1860. she got her formation from her grandparents in the same way.
In Ireland, they didn’t have a lot of ecumenism, nor did hey in the Bronx, to where they went. They were unquestioningly Catholic, as were the other faiths. Anything resembling heresy or schism was in the form of the men going to the pub instead of Mass.
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know, but that is the traditional understanding, loosely interpreted, and it’s where I get my logic in saying our faith goes back to St. Patrick.