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A land with a long tradition of heroes and mystery,
Ireland was the first place outside of the Roman Empire to accept Christianity.
T he early history of Ireland is so entwined with myth and legend that it is hard to see where one ends and the other begins. The many invasions of the Emerald Isle in the time before the Celts is a subject open to scholarly debate however three are thought to be historical fact. Authentic conquerors of the tiny island include the escaped slaves from Greece called Firbolg, the fabled Tuatha de Danaan who possessed magic, and the Milesians also known as the Scots. The Milesians were descended from Mil who was married to Scota, a Pharaoh’s daughter. They apparently left Egypt at the same time as the Hebrews, travelling to Ireland by ship and subduing the ruling Danaans. The Bronze Age ended in Ireland around 350BC when a Celtic wave of humanity spread across Europe, heralding the arrival of the Iron Age. The Celts were patriarchal as opposed to the matriarchal Bronze Age Irish, and it is unclear exactly how much of the existing Irish religion and Druidic lore the Celts incorporated into their own culture after they conquered the isle. Despite all the invasions and cultural upheavals in Ireland, the Irish language is almost 3000 years old. Although of the Indo European family, the language is oriental in origin and very different to English. In fact, philologists identify it with the ancient language of the Phoenicians. Similarly, the Druidic traditions of Ireland are thought by some to have been Egyptian. The Greek historian Plutarch mentioned Ireland as the land of holy men in reference to the Druids, and certainly after St Patrick converted the Irish to Christianity it was known as the Holy Isle. The Druids of Ireland were not priests as we think of the term.
They were akin to wise men and were also artists, preserving the laws, customs, history, science and religion of their people. Druids were bards of great renown, poets who were the keepers and creators of Irish literature. Celtic spirituality was based on pagan beliefs that formed and interesting basis for Christianity. When St Patrick brought Christianity to the Irish circa 431AD, he was the first to take it out of the Roman Empire, an amazing feat in itself. The Celts brought a unique perspective to Christianity that resonates even today. The religion grew and flourished without a Romanising influence. Celtic Christians saw God in nature where previously they had seen a multitude of gods and goddesses. They adapted an existing pilgrim ideal and put it in a Christian context. Pilgrimage, the notion of seeking out God through a journey, is a concept still very much alive today in Ireland. St Patrick is famous the world over for charming the snakes out of Ireland and using the Shamrock to teach the people about the Holy Trinity. Less well known facts are that the Irish captured Patrick during a raid on Britain and after spending six years as a slave he escaped, only to return as a missionary. To survive among the tough Irish, Patrick had to have been strong both mentally and physically and was obviously very gifted to succeed in his quest. Patrick didn’t try to Romanise the Celts, just Christianise them resulting in a new kind of Catholic Church, one that was original. It was also comparatively primitive, founded in a culture that did not possess any of the socio-political baggage of the Greco-Roman world. The miraculous conversion of the Celts had far reaching consequences, for instance when the Dark Ages swept Europe, Patrick’s Irish monasteries managed to keep a small flame of Western thought alight, thus preserving knowledge that would otherwise have been swept up in the tide of darkness. It was the Irish monks who bridged the gap between classical Christianity and the Middle Ages and so it was the joyous Irish spirituality, free of the doom and gloom that characterised earlier eastern Christianity, that resonated during medieval times. It is understandable that Catholics all over the world today and not just in Ireland have a special reverence for, and still celebrate, Patrick - the man born a Roman Brit who died an Irish saint.
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