Christian Ireland

The good work of St. Patrick was vigorously continued, after his death, by his disciples and successors. In the course of time Ireland was dotted with churches, monasteries, and schools. Pieces of land were set apart by the various tribes for the maintenance of the religious establishments; and this land remained in their possession. The abbot of a monastery became a sort of lord of the manor, to whom his tenants owed fealty; and, as in the case of the chiefs of tribes, the successor of the abbot, who was called the "co-arb," was chosen, during the abbot's life-time, by the monks and the men of the tribe. Each monastery had attached to it, moreover, a number of smaller missions, scattered here and there, over which it had control, and which paid tribute to it for its support. Bishops, moreover, were set over the different sees. For a long time, however, the bishops were inferior in authority to the abbots of the monasteries.

For two centuries after the death of St. Patrick, the piety and learning of Ireland were renowned throughout Europe. The Irish monks went forth into Britain, Gaul, and Germany, to convert the heathen of those countries. Ireland came to be known everywhere as "the Isle of Saints." The monks founded monasteries and schools wherever they went. They preached before the great Charlemagne, and were celebrated, even in Rome itself, for their scholarship no less than for their religious fervor. There was a long period, indeed, when Ireland was the foremost nation in Europe, in learning and religious teaching; when, from all parts of Europe, students flocked in hundreds to fill her schools to overflowing, and to learn theology and the arts in her monasteries and convents. As early as in the sixth century, there were famous schools at Armagh and Belfast, at Clonard and Wexford, at Mungret and Mayo. At some of these schools were gathered, at times, as many as five or six thousand students. The students, too, were of many races,—Saxons, Gauls, Picts, and Franks, as well as Irish.

These great schools were, for the most part, free to all; not only free in their instruction, but free in giving board and lodging to the students. The tribes granted them lands, rights of fishery, and mill privileges; and they were allowed to cut as much wood for timber and fuel as they needed.

The monks went about the country asking for funds by which to support the schools; and often princes, nobles, and large-hearted rich women gave them generous endowments. The edifices of the great schools were built in blocks, and formed the streets of a special quarter of the town in which they were situated. They were generally erected on the banks of a river or a lake, and were, for the most part, wooden buildings with shingle roofs, and were spacious in size. The students went forth from these schools, to spread learning and the Christian faith through the most benighted regions of northern and western Europe, and to establish the fame of Ireland as the intellectual center of the world.

The studies pursued at these schools give a striking idea of the height to which Irish scholarship had attained while Britain was still in a state of almost barbaric ignorance. The Irish students were taught not only their own tongue and Latin, which was, as it still is, the language of the church; but they also learned Greek, Hebrew, and the writings of the Greek and Christian philosophers. They studied physics, mathematics, and poetry, and were carefully practiced in music. Neither paper nor printing had been invented; and the books used in the Irish schools were all written by monkish hands on vellum, or parchment. But few such books could have been possessed by the schools. It is probable that the teachers read from them, and expounded the text by lectures. By far the greater number of the students were educated to enter the priesthood; so that a deep religious spirit pervaded the studies, habits, and influences of the schools.

At the same time, scholarship, science, and the arts, as well as religion, were ardently pursued in the tranquil cells and cloisters of the many monasteries which were now thickly scattered through Ireland. The monks, besides pursuing their religious vigils, did a great deal of worldly work. They tilled the fertile lands attached to the monasteries; they tended their cows, sheep, and pigs; they acted as scribes for those who could not write; they worked in wood and in the metals. They made with their own hands the various ornaments which adorned the sanctuaries, and wrote and illuminated the missals used in pious services. They were skillful in architecture, built their own edifices and churches, and devoted themselves with special ardor to music. It is an ancient Irish proverb, that "it is a poor church that has no music." The Irish churches, even in that distant age, were famous for their well-drilled choirs, their stirring hymns, and their instrumental as well as vocal harmonies.

Ireland produced in the sixth and seventh centuries a multitude of holy men, who received the name of "saints," and were renowned through Europe for their piety and learning. They had a great influence over the public affairs, not only of Ireland, but of other countries. They sometimes founded Irish and Christian colonies on foreign soil. The most notable instance of this, perhaps, was the founding of an Irish colony on the island of Iona, off the western coast of Scotland. There is little doubt that many of the people of the Scottish Highlands were descended from Irish colonists, who had established themselves in that country long before St. Patrick's time. There are traces, indeed, of Irish invasions of Scotland, as far back as the middle of the third century. A large and prosperous Irish settlement had been made at the beginning of the sixth century (503), in Argyle, Rosshire, and Perth. But the first systematic attempt to bring about the conversion of the Scottish pagans was that made in the middle of the sixth century by the famous St. Columbkill, who founded the colony on the island of Iona (565).

DEATH OF COLUMBKILL

Next to St. Patrick himself, Columbkill was the most conspicuous Irish figure in those early centuries. He was of royal blood, a bishop of the church, and an accomplished scholar. His temper was sweet and saint-like. He had, moreover, a burning religious zeal, rare courage, poetic talent, and a gift of glowing eloquence. With twelve priests, he repaired to Iona, and built a large monastery. He then set out upon his task of conversion. Columbkill went among the barbarous people in the islands of the Hebrides and the Orkneys, through the mountains of Argyle into northern Britain, and even to the southernmost parts of the island. His success during his long mission of thirty-one years was wonderful. The Pict king was baptized by him, and the lesser Scottish sovereigns received his benediction when they assumed their scepters.

Columbkill's fame and influence thus spread far and wide. His disciples were called "the servants of God." In order that the monks of Iona might pursue their studies and writing of books in entire seclusion, Columbkill made a law that neither any woman nor any cow should be allowed on the island; "for," he said, "where there is a cow, there will be a woman; and, wherever there is a woman, there will be mischief." Columbkill more than once interposed, with his wisdom and his authority, in the affairs of Ireland. He defended the bards, whom one of the kings wished to suppress; he successfully opposed the taxation of his Iona colony; and the Irish priesthood often resorted to him for counsel. Columbkill was over eighty years old when he died. When he rose on the Sunday morning of his death, he said to one of his disciples, cheerfully, "This day is called the day of rest; and such will it be for me, for it will finish my labors." A few hours later, he had quietly passed away. It is said that death came to him as he sat writing some pious sayings on vellum (596).