an Irish prince who travelled to Britannia to enlist the military assistance of the Roman general Agricola in resolving a dispute at home. Agricola maintained a fleet in south-west Scotland, from where the coasts of Hibernia were clearly visible – but his attention was diverted by a Scottish uprising. Roman legions would never cross the sea to Ireland.
The prince who had enlisted the assistance of Agricola was one of many such leaders, for Ireland at this time was divided into a series of kingdoms or túatha, the borders of which fluctuated ceaselessly. The túatha did from time to time federate into larger entities, but these too were subject to continual change. Even the five historic provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connacht, and Meath were by no means constant fixtures on the political scene. There was certainly no conception of a centralized state, and yet there was the sense of a collective identity. Significantly, the Irish word for a province was cúige, meaning a fifth, thus implying the presence or existence of a whole. In social and economic terms, these were intensely hierarchical societies: power flowed from the king through the scribes and poets – whose influence in an oral culture was considerable – down to the landless serfs. Laws were pervasive and byzantine, governing every aspect of life, and so, in spite of political turmoil and competition, life in Ireland was inherently deeply stable and organized. This was a society in which each individual knew their place.
Palladius: the ‘first Patrick’
By the second half of the fourth century AD, a small but established Christian community was in existence in Ireland. It was focused in the south-eastern corner of the country: that part of the island most in contact with the ebb and flow of power and culture in the Roman world, and with the doctrinal disputes that regularly convulsed early Christendom. Indeed, it was to ensure the doctrinal purity of Ireland’s Christian community that Celestine I, Pope from 422–432, dispatched the first envoy to Ireland. As the historian Prosper of Aquitaine put it: ‘To the Irish believing in Christ, Palladius, having been ordained by Pope Celestine, is sent as first bishop.’ Palladius landed with a small group of companions on the coast of what is now County Wicklow around AD 428, and ministered largely in this part of the country. But Palladius’ sojourn was brief: he was unable to navigate the mazes of Irish political life, fell out of favour with local Irish kings – and within three years had departed Ireland for Scotland. Though remembered in local folk culture, Palladius and his legacy have been almost entirely erased from official Irish histories.
Few historical figures loom larger in Irish history than Patrick: patron saint, evangelist, and politician. He grew up in late Roman Britain, early in the fifth century AD. The standard stories speak of his capture by Irish slavers, who brought him to Ireland. Here he was put to work as a goatherd for some years before eventually making his way home to Britain; later, the adult Patrick returned to an ostensibly pagan Ireland to spread the Good News, and convert the Irish to Christianity. As we know, some of this story is untrue, for Christianity had established itself well before Patrick’s arrival, but his ministry was influential. He was a vigorous and skilled communicator, for example deploying the existing Irish practice of worshipping gods in groups of three in order to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. He had, moreover, political skills absent in Palladius: he was able to enlist the powerful Irish kings to his cause, thus rapidly building a following across the land. By the time of his death late in the fifth century, Christianity had imprinted itself indelibly across the land.
The silvery peak of Croagh Patrick rises to 764 metres, and overlooks the island-flecked expanse of Clew Bay in west County Mayo. The mountain is nicknamed the ‘Reek’, and it has long been a significant place of pilgrimage in Ireland. On Reek Sunday – the last Sunday in July each year – thousands of walkers (some of them barefoot) climb the mountain and attend a Christian service in the small chapel on its summit. The Reek itself owes its importance to Patrick – the saint is said to have spent forty days fasting on the mountain in AD 441 – and the summer pilgrimage has survived for centuries. Nor is Croagh Patrick the only significant place of Patrician pilgrimage in Ireland today. County Donegal is home to St Patrick’s Purgatory on Station Island in Lough Derg, which similarly has been a sacred site for hundreds of years. Patrick’s remains are said to lie in Down Cathedral in County Down; and a statue of the saint stands on the Hill of Slane in County Meath, where Patrick is said to have lit the Easter Flame, or Paschal Flame, thus ushering in the age of Irish Christianity.
The collapse of the Roman Empire in western Europe may not have led to the ‘Dark Ages’ of myth, but it did contribute to a steep decline in cultural activity and written records. In Ireland, conversely, these years saw a startling flowering in creativity – the result of the spread of Christianity and the establishment of great monasteries across the land. As the existing oral culture gave way to the written word, so copious records began to be kept detailing every aspect of life. In scriptoria up and down Ireland, monks created the famous ‘illuminated’ manuscripts, which stand today as exemplars of Ireland’s status as a place of ‘saints and scholars’. The monasteries fulfilled many significant functions: they maintained social stability; provided housing, health services, and places of incarceration; acted as places of education; and, not least, fuelled economic growth, as they directed and channelled the agricultural output of their district. Such great monasteries as Clonmacnoise, on the river Shannon in County Offaly, were famous across Europe, and from its quays, goods flowed across Ireland. The abbots of such institutions became key players and arbiters of power and authority on the local political scene.
The highland valley of Glendalough in County Wicklow, with its twin lakes and its glorious backdrop of granite hills, is today one of Ireland’s most prominent tourist attractions. It has been significant in Irish history since the sixth century, when St Kevin established a place of hermitage here, and settled into a life of contemplation and prayer. Kevin’s reputation for piety and austerity drew pilgrims to the valley, where a monastery and seminary were established. Following Kevin’s death c. 618, the settlement flourished for centuries. The site today contains significant monastic remnants, which testify to the size and scale of Glendalough at its height: most famous is the great round tower, which dominates the valley. Kevin is a man for all ages, and today his life is interpreted as one of environmental awareness. Seamus Heaney’s famous poem ‘St Kevin and the Blackbird’ responds to the folk legend that describes the saint sitting in contemplation, arms outstretched, when a blackbird settles in the palm of his hand, nests, and lays her eggs. Rather than disturb the bird, Kevin remains in his position ‘until the young are hatched and fledged and flown’.