In 795, monks on an island near Dublin saw a fleet of ships approaching. The long ships with a dragons head carved on the bow carried a force of warriors who would plunder the treasures accumulated by the monastery over 2 centuries. A monk wrote late...
For the monasteries were still producing great works of art. He might have been less enamoured at the political maneuvering. The status of clergy could have much to do with their alliances and family ties with the local aristocracy. Indeed, from the...
But Columbanus was deeply loyal to the idea of church led by the pope from Rome. He was a decentrer, not a revolutionary. He looked beyond the monastery walls, imagining a Europe united in faith and culture. Is the narration spoken in the language of...
Irish monks would carry their Gospel across the seas. Men like Brendan the Voyager, Colum Cille in the Irish kingdom of Dal Riata in Scotland, or Aidain at Lindisfarne in Northumbria. Now, the Lord had said, Get thee out of thy country and from thy k...
What it says is that the Irish are the centre of the world. Theyre not a small insignificant people. It was woven together in the 11th century from earlier sources as a statement of Irish uniqueness. They didnt want to be seen as peripheral people li...
And this is the great settlement of Clonmacnoise. As you sweep around this turn in the river Shannon, you get the round towers, the churches and everything. You get the first idea that this is a really substantial monastic foundation. How did we arri...
Tell me what happens when the monks arrive. Well, they would have, first of all, made their way to the local king, the local lord, or something like that, because you couldnt just arrive off the next available flight and announce, hi, Im your new loc...
What is his practical impact on Christianitys development? He in chance says that he went where no men went before. Its a famous expression that survives down to the present day, and he clearly did go where no other Christian missionary had gone befo...
His memory would be obliterated by events which would create Ireland's first and most enduring cult of personality. It is the story of a spiritual revolution born in an age of imperial collapse. Since the beginning of the fifth century, barbarian att...
This type of inscribed stone is usually found only in Ireland or the far western fringes of Britain. These lines represent the oldest form of the Irish language. Michael, what is this stone? Well, it is a small Roman column, but what's very different...