Page:The ancient Irish church.djvu/134

 CHAPTER XIII.

writers have remarked that the eighth century is a barren one in Irish ecclesiastical history. The Easter controversies were brought to a conclusion in its early years, and the Danish invasions belong to the next century. No great event happened in the meantime. It is therefore in one sense a period that has no history.

Even in political affairs the time was comparatively uneventful. A great battle was fought at the beginning of the century between the hereditary enemies, Meath and Leinster, in which the latter were victorious. In another great battle the Meath men avenged their defeat. Otherwise the period has little to record.

The quietude of the country caused the Church to increase in power and usefulness. The great schools of Ireland rose to the zenith of their glory. Many countries sent their sons to obtain education in the peaceful establishments of the Western Isle; and on the other hand, some of the alumni of the Irish schools, having left their native land, were distinguished for their brilliancy and learning in many a foreign kingdom. Such names as Clement and Albin, the wisdom-seekers, and Virgil the Geometer, are perhaps now seldom mentioned; yet in their day their fame had spread through many 130