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St. Patrick is a patron saint of Ireland. Other famous Irish saints include St. Columba, or, in Irish, Colum Cille ‘A Dove of the Church’, and St. Brigid. Legends about the three saints abound in the early manuscripts. We shall look at such things as the adoption of Christianity in Ireland, the development of Irish church and its factions, early Irish saints’ lives, pagan Irish gods/heroes and their euhemeric transformation into the saints’ figures, and also will study various man-made segments of Irish landscape associated with the saints: St. Patrick’s Purgatory, St. Columba’s Glen, St. Brigid’s fire of Kildare.
The following reading would be helpful to feel yourself comfortable and fully prepared for the lecture:
General:
N.K. Chadwick, The Age of Saints in the Early Celtic Church, London, 1961, select chapters;
K. Hughes, The Church in Early Irish Society, London, 1966, selections;
C. Etchigham. Church organisation in Ireland, A.D. 650 to 1000. Maynooth: Laigin Publications, 1999.
St. Patrick:
J. Carney. The Problem of St. Patrick. Dublin : DIAS, 1961.
D. Dumville (ed.) Saint Patrick, A.D. 493-1993.Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1993.
L.Bieler. Studies on the Life and Legend of St. Patrick. (R. Sharp (ed.) London: Variorum Reprints, 1986.
L. Bieler (ed.) The Patrician Texts in the Book of Armagh. Dublin: DIAS, 1979.
Production of Manuscripts:
B. Meehan. The Book of Durrow : a medieval masterpiece at Trinity College Dublin. Dublin: Town House, 1995.
B. Meehan. The Book of Kells: an illustrated introduction. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994.