A History of the Irish Church 400-700 AD


Book Description

The Golden Age of Irish Art, and the time when Ireland earned a reputation as an island of saints and scholars, is the subject of this splendid short history. The records of the time and the best of modern historical scholarship are combined in a clearly-written overview of the period. Starting with the origins of Christianity in Ireland, before the arrival of the national apostle, it moves on to cover in detail the life, work and character of Patrick. It outlines the origins and development of Irish monasticism and introduces some of the major monastic founders. A separate chapter each is given over to the work of Colum Cille in Britain and to Columban's labors in continental Europe. The book concludes with individual chapters on three important topics of the period: the penitentials, the Easter controversy, and early Irish Christian art. Illustrated with several maps, the book ends with a very substantial bibliography of the period.










Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200


Book Description

This impressive survey covers the early history of Ireland from the coming of Christianity to the Norman settlement. Within a broad political framework it explores the nature of Irish society, the spiritual and secular roles of the Church and the extraordinary flowering of Irish culture in the period. Other major themes are Ireland's relations with Britain and continental Europe, the beginnings of Irish feudalism, and the impact of the Viking and Norman invaders. The expanded second edition has been fully updated to take into account the most recent research in the history of Ireland in the early middle ages, including Ireland’s relations with the Later Roman Empire, advances and discoveries in archaeology, and Church Reform in the 11th and 12th centuries. A new opening chapter on early Irish primary sources introduces students to the key written sources that inform our picture of early medieval Ireland, including annals, genealogies and laws. The social, political, religious, legal and institutional background provides the context against which Dáibhí Ó Cróinín describes Ireland’s transformation from a tribal society to a feudal state. It is essential reading for student and specialist alike.
















The Ancient Irish Church


Book Description

Excerpt from The Ancient Irish Church The History of the Ancient Irish Church has an importance of its own. It concerns not merely the Irishman who naturally desires to learn how Christianity came to be preached in his own land, for the subject is of scarcely less interest to the dweller in England or Scotland. The former finds in Ireland the counterpart of the old British Church, and traces to that island, besides, the source whence much of the Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon was first derived. As he marks how from time to time the English Church struggled for liberty - how, long before the time of the Reformation, the authority of the Pope was resisted or rendered only a grudging recognition - he will rightly trace this independent spirit to the tone originally given to the Church by the Celtic missionaries. The latter looks to the Church of Ireland as the parent Church of his Own. The story of Iona, and of the conversion of the tribes of Caledonia, is as much Irish as it is Scotch. But to the student of general Church History, Ireland is also important. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.