Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/130

 IRELAND

100

IRELAND

Tara. But St. Patrick came to Tara itself, baptized the chief poet, and even the ardri; then marched north and destroyed at Leitrim the idol, Crom C'ruach, after which he entered Connaught, and remained there for seven years. Passing from Connaught to Ulster, he went through Donegal, Tyrone, and Antrim, conse- crated Macarten Bishop of Monaghan, and Fiacc Bishop of Sletty; after which he entered Munster. Finally he returned to Ulster, and died at Saul in 493. His early captivity in Ireland interfered seriously with his education, and in his Confession and in his Epistle to Caroticus, both of which have survived the wreck of ages, we can discover no graces of style. But we see his great familiarity with the Scripture. And the man himself stands revealed; his piety, his spirit of prayer, his confidence in God, his zeal, his invincible courage. But while putting his entire trust in God, and giving Him all the glory, he rejected no human aid. Entering into a pagan territory he first preached to the cliief men, knowing that when they were converted the people would follow. Wonderful indeed was his labour, and wonderful its results. He preached in almost every district in Ireland, con- fomided in argument the druids and won the people from their side; he built, it is said, 365 churches and consecrated an equal number of bishops, established schools and convents, and held synods; and when he died the whole machinery of a powerful Church was in operation, fully equal to the task of confirming in the faith those already converted and of bringing those yet in darkness into the C!hristian fold.

One of the apostle's first anxieties was to provide a native ministry. For this purpose he selected the leading men — chiefs, brehons, bards — men likely to attract the respect of the people, and these, after little training and often with little education, he had or- dained. Thus equipped the priest went among the people, with his catechism, missal, and ritual, the bishop having in addition his crosier and bell. In a short time, however, these primitive conditions ceased. About 450 a college was established at Ar- magh under Benignus; other schools arose at Kililare, Noendrum, and Louth; and by the end of the fifth century these colleges sent forth a sufficient supply of trained priests. Supported by a grant of land from the chief of the clan or sept and by voluntary offerings, bishop and priests lived together, preached to the peo- ple, administered the sacraments, settled their dis- putes, sat in their banquet halls. To many ardent natures this state of things was abhorrent. Fleeing from men, they sought for solitude and silence, by the banks of a river, in the recesses of a wood, and, with the scantiest allowance of food, the water for their drink, a few wattles covered with sods for their houses, they spent their time in mortification and prayer. Literally they were monks, for they were alone with God. But their retreats were soon invaded by others anxious to share their penances and their vigils, and to learn wisdom at their feet. Each newcomer built his little hut, a church was erected, a grant of land ob- tained, their master became abbot, and perhaps bishop; and thus arose monastic establishments the fame of which soon spread throughout Europe. Noted examples in the sixth century were Clonard, founded by St. Finian, Clonfert by St. Brendan, Ban- gor by St. Comgall, Clonmacnoise by St. Kieran, Ar- ran by St. Enda; and, in the seventh century, Lis- more by St. Carthage and Glendalough by St. Kevin.

There were still bardic schools, as there was still paganism, but in the seventh century paganism had all but disappeared, and the bardic were overshadowed by the monastic .schools. Frequented by the best of the Irish, and by Ktu<lents from abroad,' these latter diffased knowli-dw over western I'Airopc, and Ireland received and mcrili'd I he liil,. ,,f Isl:,tid of Saints anil Scholars, 'j'hc holy men who laboured with St.. Pat- rick and iiMniedialely succeeded him were mostly

bishops and founders of churches; those of the sixth century were of the monastic order; those of the seventh century were mostly anchorites who loved solitude, silence, continued prayer, and the most rigid austerities. Nor were the women behindhand in this contest for holiness. St. Brigid is a name still dear to Ireland, and she, as well as St. Ita, St. Fanchea and others, founded many convents tenanted by pious women, whose sanctity and sacrifices it would be in- deed difficult to surpass. Nor was the Irish Church, as has been sometimes asserted, out of communion with the See of Rome. The Roman and Irish tonsures differed, it is true, and the methods of computing Easter, and it may be that Pelagianism found some few adherents, though Arianism did not, nor the errors as to the natures and wills of Christ. In the number of its sacraments, in its veneration for the Blessed Virgin, in its belief in the Mass and in Purgatory, in its obetlience to the See of Rome, the creed of the early Irish Church was the CathoUc creed of to-day (see Celtic Rite). Abroad as well as at home Irish Chris- tian zeal was displayed. In 563 St. Columba, a native of Donegal, accompanied by a few companions, crossed the sea to Caledonia and founded a monastery on the desolate island of lona. Fresh arrivals came from Ireland; the monastery with Columba as its abbot was soon a flourishing institution, from which the Dalriadian Scots in the south and the Picts beyond the Grampians were evangelized; and when Columba died in 597, Christianity had been preached and re- ceived in every district in Caledonia, antl in every island along its western coast. In the next century lona had so prospered that its abbot, St. .\damnan, wrote in excellent Latin the "Life of St. Columba", the best biography of which the Middle Ages can boast. From lona had gone south the Irish Aidan and his Irish companions to compete with and even exceed in zeal the Roman missionaries under St. Au- gustine, and to evangelize Northumbria, Mercia, and Essex; and if Irish zeal had already been displayed in lona, equal zeal was now displayed on the desolate isle of Lindisfarne. Nor was this all. In 590 St. Columbanus, a student of Bangor, accompanied by twelve companions, arrived in France and established the monastery of Luxeuil, the parent of many monas- teries, then laboured at Bregenz, and finally founded the monastery of Bobbio, which as a centre of knowl- edge and piety was long the light of northern Italy. And meantime his friend and fellow-student St. Gall laboured with conspicuous success in Switzerland, St. Fridolin along the Rhine, St. Fiacre near Meaux, St. Kilian at Wiirzburg, St. Livinus in Braliant, St. Fur- sey on the Marne, St. Cataldus in southern Italy. And when Charlemagne reigned (771-814), Irishmen were at his court, " men incomparably skilled in human learning".

In the civil history of the period only a few facts stand out prominently. About 560, in consec|uence of a quarrel with the ardri Diarmuid about the right of sanctuary, St. Columba and Rhoilanus (Heudaii) of Lorrha pubhcly cursed Tara, an unpatriotic act which dealt a fatal blow at the prospect of a strong central government by blighting with maledictions its acknowl- edged seat. Nearly thirty years later the National Convention of Drumceat restrained the insolence and curtailed the privileges of the Inirds. InOSt Ireland was invaded by the King of Nortlunubria, though no per- manent conquest followed. And in 697 the last Feis of Tara was held, at which, through the influence of Adamnan, women were interdicted from taking part in actual battle. At the same time the ardri Finac- tha, at the instance of St. Moling, renounced for him- self and his successors the Boni tribute. As the eighth century neared its close, religion ami learning still flourishe<l; but uiiexpcctcd dangers approached and a new enemy came, before whose assaults monk and monastery and .saint and .scholar disappeared.