Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [11]
Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek philosophy and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished at, among other places, Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, Glendalough in County Wicklow (Click here) and Lismore in County Waterford. It was the golden age, and the arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking and sculpture flourished, producing such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island ‘of saints and scholars’.
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ST PATRICK
Ireland’s patron saint is remembered all around the world on 17 March, when people of all ethnicities drink Guinness and wear green clothing. But behind the hoopla was a real man with a serious mission. For it was Patrick (AD 389–461) who introduced Christianity to Ireland.
The plain truth of it is that he wasn’t Irish. This symbol of Irish pride hailed from what is now Wales, which at the time of his birth was under Roman occupation.
Patrick’s arrival in Ireland was made possible by Irish raiders who kidnapped him when he was 16, and took him across the channel to work as a slave. He found religion, escaped from captivity and returned to Britain. But he vowed to make it his life’s work to make Christians out of the Irish. He was ordained, then appointed Bishop of Ireland. Back he went over the channel.
He based himself in Armagh, where St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral (Click here) stands on the site of his old church. Patrick quickly converted peasants and noblemen in great numbers. Within 30 years, much of Ireland had been baptised and the country was divided up into Catholic dioceses and parishes. He also established monasteries throughout Ireland, which would be the foundations of Irish scholarship for many centuries.
So next St Paddy’s Day, as you’re swilling Guinness and champing down corned beef and cabbage, think of who the man really was.
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The nature of Christianity in Ireland was one of marked independence from Rome, especially in the areas of monastic rule and penitential practice, which emphasised private confession to a priest followed by penances levied by the priest in reparation – which is the spirit and letter of the practice of confession that exists to this day. The Irish were also exporting these teachings abroad, setting up monasteries across Europe such as the ones in Luxeuil in France and Bobbio in Italy, both founded by St Columbanus (AD 543–615).
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RAPE, PILLAGE & PLUNDER: A VIKING’S DAY OUT
The Celts’ lack of political unity made the island easy pickings for the next wave of invaders, Danish Vikings, who first landed their slim, powerful boats at Lambay Island off Dublin in AD 795. They made surprise attacks along the eastern coast and strategic advances up rivers to inland terrain, where they set up bases and began plundering the prosperous monasteries. In self-defence, the monks built round towers, which served as lookout posts and places of refuge during attacks. Surviving examples of these towers can be seen at monastic sites such as Glendalough (Click here). The monks’ best efforts notwithstanding, inferior Irish weapons and lack of a unified defence – made all the worse when local tribes often sided with the invaders for personal profit – allowed the Norsemen to pretty much have their way with Ireland. Over the course of the 9th and 10th centuries, they established a small Viking kingdom called Dubh Linn (Black Pool), which would later become the city of Dublin, and they founded the towns of Wicklow, Waterford and Wexford.
The biggest challenge to Viking rule in Ireland came in 1014, when Brian Ború, king of Munster, defeated the Vikings (and their Irish allies, led by the king of Leinster, Máelmorda mac Murchada) at Clontarf. Both Ború and mac Murchada lost their lives but, like the Celts before