St. Patrick - Ireland's Patron Saint

 

Stained glass image of St. Patrick. Photo: Wikipedia

Place of Birth

Much controversy surrounds the details of St. Patrick's life. He is believed to have been British by birth, the son of a decurio or town councillor. His place of birth is said to have been somewhere in the west between the mouth of the Severn and the Clyde. He was born sometime between 385 and 389. Patrick himself tells us he was of Romano-British origin. The names of his parents were Calpurnius and Concessa.

Captured Slave

While still a youth he was captured by Irish pirates and reduced to slavery. For six years he herded swine or sheep in Co. Antrim or on the coast of Co. Mayo. During the period of Patrick's captivity in Ireland he learned the native language and got to know the pagan practices of the Druid priests.

Escape

St. Patrick eventually escaped and returned to his family. However, he was constantly troubled by visions of the pagan Irish imploring him to walk among them once more.

Ordained Bishop

Patrick was later ordained a bishop and in the year 432 AD he returned to Ireland. He knew very well that if he was to succeed in Ireland then he must first convert the kings and chieftains. Otherwise, the people would not be allowed to worship in peace. He faced many dangers including assassination, the military might of kings, and opposition of the powerful druids whose very existence he threatened.

First Church

It was the Chieftain Dichu who gave Patrick a plot of land on which to build his first church in Co. Down. St. Patrick spent many years in Ireland although exactly how long we do not know. During this time, he travelled extensively. He writes:

“I journeyed among you, and everywhere, for your sake, often in danger, even to the outermost parts beyond which there is nothing, places where no one had ever arrived to baptise or ordain clergy or confirm the people.”

Celtic Religion and Art

Ireland, in those days, was quite different from Britain in many ways: it had its own language, political structures, customs and laws. It had not been invaded by Roman legions. It was also located at the furthest reaches of the known world.

Decorated Grave Slab from Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo (Replica)

We can also see the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. Two of the grave slabs at Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo, bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is close to a design in the Book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD. Several of the panels of the seventh century Moylough Belt-shrine, found only a few miles west of Carrowntemple, have this same mix of Pagan and Christian artwork.

Early Irish texts suggest that holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals and were even protected by the old religion. For example, it is believed that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the substantial number of holy wells throughout the country.

In some respects, the nature of the Celtic religion helped in the development of Christianity. Their belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in understanding the resurrection of Christ. The Celts also had their own sacrifices and ritual meals which, in a sense, mirrored aspects of Christian message.

Lough Gara formerly known as Loch Techet

Patrick Travels to the West

We know from ecclesiastical history that he travelled to the west of Ireland. After visiting Elphin and Croghan, he came around the north of Loch Techet, the ancient name for Lough Gara, through the present townlands of Cuppenagh and Templeronan. It is said that he went to Gregraidhe of Loch Techet. The Gregraidhe (horse people) or Gregory comprised the baronies of Coolavin in Sligo and Costello in Mayo. According to an entry in the Annals of Tigernach (AU 665) Cummeni, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, was of the Gregraige of Loch Techet.

When the tribe responded to the Gospel, an enclosure would be set aside, with boundaries and ‘termon’ crosses, sometimes with a ditch, sometimes with a wall, clearly marking out to everyone that the area was sacred. Within it a tiny church of wattle and daub would be built.

Monasteries

Many monasteries were built at tribal meeting places or on tribal boundaries. As monastic communities grew, they attracted a resident local community. The monasteries provided for the spiritual needs of local families and taught the children. The monastery and the village grew together. Monks undertook tasks such as the creating and copying of literature and highly specialised metalware.

According to Tirechan, the Bishop of North Mayo, Patrick came from the plain of Mirteach, between Castlerea and Ballaghaderreen, to a place called Drummut Cerrigi or Drumad of the Ciarraige. This is now the townland of Drumad in the Parish of Tibohine. It is said that he dug a well here and no stream went into it or came out of it, but it was always full. The well was named Bithlan (i.e. ever full).

Here, the saint found two brothers, Bibar and Lochru, the sons of Tamanchend, fighting about the division of their father's lands. St. Patrick reconciled them by a miracle, and he blessed them and made peace between them. The brothers gave their land to Patrick, and he founded a church there.

Patrick then went to Aileach Esrachta which was at Telach Liac or Telach na Cloch, which later became known as Tullaganrock in the Parish of Kilcolman. It is said that local people were afraid of the stranger and the eight or nine men accompanying him, so they decided to kill him. The crowd was restrained by a brave man named Hercait of the race of Nathi. Hercait and his son Feradach were babtised and Feradach joined St Patrick. Patrick gave Feradach a new name calling him Sachail. He eventually became bishop and was associated with a famous church called Basilica Sanctorum which is now known as Baslik - a parish between Castlerea and Tulsk.

Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo. Photo: Wikipedia

Forty Days and Nights

Patrick spent forty days and nights fasting on the top of Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a church/oratory dating from the early Christian period on the top of this mountain. The entire summit was enclosed by a stone wall which may have been the enclosing wall of an early monastic site.

Death

We are told that when the shadow of death came near, Patrick returned to the first church he had built at Soul, Co. Down and died on March 17th, 461. There is, however, some uncertainty as to the actual year of his death.

Legend has it that St. Patrick expelled snakes from Ireland, explained the Trinity using the shamrock, and accomplished single-handed great missionary tasks of conversion. Scholars doubt if there were ever snakes in Ireland.

St. Patrick remains the most popular of Irish saints. In art, he is usually depicted wearing the vestments of bishop treading on snakes. In the National Museum of Ireland shrines survive of his bell and his tooth (12th & 14th century). His fame has spread throughout the world, and we celebrate his feast day on 17th March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIphXep4nSQ

 

St Brigid (450-525 AD) – Feast Day: 1st February 2022

 

St Brigid's Rush Cross

On 1^st February, we celebrate the feast day of St Brigid of Ireland. Originally, this was a pagan festival called Imbolc which marked the beginning of spring.

Who was St Brigid?

St Brigid is one of the Patron Saints of Ireland, together with St Patrick and St Colmcille. She was born in Faughart, north of Dundalk, Co Louth in Ireland, approximately 450 AD and was the founder of the first monastery in County Kildare. Her father was a pagan chieftain of Leinster named Dubthach and her mother was a Christian slave named Brocca.

Dubthach’s wife insisted that he get rid of the slave girl. He sold Brigid’s mother to a poet but not the child in her womb for whom he was responsible. Later, the poet sold Brigid’s mother to a druid. As Brigid was filled with the Holy Spirit, she could not digest the druid’s ‘unclean’ food and

‘thereupon he chose a white cow and set it aside for the girl, and a certain Christian woman, a very God-fearing virgin, used to milk the cow and the girl used to drink the cow’s milk and not vomit it up as her stomach had been healed. Moreover, this Christian woman fostered the girl’.

When she was young, St Brigid wanted to join a convent. However, her father insisted that she marry a rich man to whom he had promised her hand. According to legend, Brigid prayed that her beauty be taken so no one would want to marry her and her prayer was granted. It was not until after she made her final vows that her beauty was restored. 

Brigid enlisted God’s help again to convince her father to give her land on which to build a convent. Her father agreed to give her as much land as her cloak could cover. It is said that the cloak grew to cover 2,000 acres of land! One of five ancient roads in Ireland that lead to Tara passed through Kildare.

St Brigid's Cathedral
Kildare, Ireland

According to tradition, around 480 AD Brigid founded a monastery at Kildare (Cill Dara: “church of the oak”), on the site of a pagan shrine to the Celtic goddess Brigit. Her monastery developed a reputation for hospitality, compassion and generosity. It was known as the ‘City of the Poor’. St Brigid worked with the sick, poor, and outcast.

As monastic communities grew, they attracted a resident local community. The monasteries provided for the spiritual needs of local families and taught the children. The monastery and the village grew together. The monks undertook tasks such as the creating and copying of literature and highly specialised metalware.

St Brigid’s Rush Cross

On one occasion, St Brigid was sitting by the sick bed of a dying pagan chieftain comforting him with stories of her faith in God. She told him the story of Christ on the cross while at the same time picking up rushes from the ground to make a cross. Before he died, the chieftain asked to be baptised. People made similar crosses to hang over the door of their homes to scare off evil, fire and hunger. Word spread of St Brigid’s kindness and faith and the making of the cross from rushes that we know today became associated with her name.

Saint Brigid as depicted
in Saint Non's Chapel, St Davids, Wales

It was said that St Brigid could miraculously milk her cows three times a day to provide a meal for visitors. According to the Celtic tradition, the guest was seen as Christ and hospitality was extended in that spirit.

Brigid later founded a school of art that included metalwork and illumination. It was at this school that the Book of Kildare, which Gerald of Wales praised as "the work of angelic, and not human skill," was beautifully illuminated. Sadly, this book was lost three centuries ago.

We can also see the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. For example, two of the grave slabs at Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo, bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is remarkably close to a design in the Book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD.

The Celts worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. In some respects, the nature of the Celtic religion helped in the development of Christianity. Their belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in understanding the resurrection of Christ. The Celts also had their own sacrifices and ritual meals which, in a sense, mirrored aspects of Christian message.

Brigid’s enduring legacy

St Brigid still lives on 1,500 years later in the minds and hearts of the people of Ireland. Her monastery grew and grew and people from all over Ireland came here, many of whom joined the monastery. St Patrick and St Brigid paved the way for Christianity in Ireland and later to Europe.

Hundreds of holy wells are dedicated to St Brigid in Ireland. Early Irish texts suggest that holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals and were even protected by the old religion. For example, it is believed that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the large number of holy wells throughout the country.

More places names in Ireland are named after St Brigid than St Patrick himself. St Brigid is associated with fertility on the land. Straw doll-like effigies of St Brigid known as Breedeag were used to bless homes.

St Brigid’s relevance today.

St Brigid appreciated the importance of the land, nature and the seasons. At a time when our planet is threatened by global warming and climate change, Brigid reminds us of the need to confront these challenges now. Today, we can learn from her example of compassion, kindness, generosity, and hospitality, as the World deals with the consequences of poverty, war, population displacement and the current Covid-19 pandemic.

On February 1^st, 525, St Brigid died of natural causes. Her body was initially kept to the right of the high altar of Kildare Cathedral. In 1185, John de Courcy had her remains relocated in Down Cathedral. Today, Saint Brigid's skull can be found in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Lumiar, Portugal. The tomb in which it is kept bears the inscription,

"Here in these three tombs lie the three Irish knights who brought the head of St. Brigid, Virgin, a native of Ireland, whose relic is preserved in this chapel. In memory of which, the officials of the Altar of the same Saint caused this to be done in January AD 1283."

In 1905 Sister Mary Agnes of the Dundalk Convent of Mercy took a purported fragment of the skull to St Bridget's Church in Kilcurry. In 1928, Fathers Timothy Traynor and James McCarroll requested another fragment for St Brigid's Church in Killester, a request granted by the Bishop of Lisbon, António Mendes Belo.

For further information please see: 

References:

(1) Sacred Heart Messenger, February 2019 – article by John Scally

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwJD00w9UM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndQKbE0M7l8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqpJkSfIrAc

St Brigid (450-525 AD) – Feast Day: 1st February 2021

Saint Brigid's Cross
Traditionally made from rushes

               Today, 1^st February, we celebrate the feast day of St Brigid of Ireland. Originally, this was a pagan festival called Imbolc which marked the beginning of spring.

Who was St Brigid?

St Brigid is one of the Patron Saints of Ireland, together with St Patrick and St Colmcille. She was born in Faughart, north of Dundalk, Co Louth in Ireland, approximately 450 AD and was the founder of the first monastery in County Kildare. Her father was a pagan chieftain of Leinster named Dubthach and her mother was a Christian slave named Brocca.

Dubthach’s wife insisted that he get rid of the slave girl. He sold Brigid’s mother to a poet but not the child in her womb for whom he was responsible. Later, the poet sold Brigid’s mother to a druid. As Brigid was filled with the Holy Spirit, she could not digest the druid’s ‘unclean’ food and

‘thereupon he chose a white cow and set it aside for the girl, and a certain Christian woman, a very God-fearing virgin, used to milk the cow and the girl used to drink the cow’s milk and not vomit it up as her stomach had been healed. Moreover, this Christian woman fostered the girl’.

When she was young, St Brigid wanted to join a convent. However, her father insisted that she marry a rich man to whom he had promised her hand. According to legend, Brigid prayed that her beauty be taken so no one would want to marry her and her prayer was granted. It was not until after she made her final vows that her beauty was restored. 

Brigid enlisted God’s help again to convince her father to give her land on which to build a convent. Her father agreed to give her as much land as her cloak could cover. It is said that the cloak grew to cover 2,000 acres of land! One of five ancient roads in Ireland that lead to Tara passed through Kildare.

Saint Brigid's Cathedral
Kildare, Ireland

According to tradition, around 480 AD Brigid founded a monastery at Kildare (Cill Dara: “church of the oak”), on the site of a pagan shrine to the Celtic goddess Brigit. Her monastery developed a reputation for hospitality, compassion and generosity. It was known as the ‘City of the Poor’. St Brigid worked with the sick, poor, and outcast.

As monastic communities grew, they attracted a resident local community. The monasteries provided for the spiritual needs of local families and taught the children. The monastery and the village grew together. The monks undertook tasks such as the creating and copying of literature and highly specialised metalware.

St Brigid’s Rush Cross

On one occasion, St Brigid was sitting by the sick bed of a dying pagan chieftain comforting him with stories of her faith in God. She told him the story of Christ on the cross while at the same time picking up rushes from the ground to make a cross. Before he died, the chieftain asked to be baptised. People made similar crosses to hang over the door of their homes to scare off evil, fire and hunger. Word spread of St Brigid’s kindness and faith and the making of the cross from rushes that we know today became associated with her name.

Saint Brigid as depicted in
Saint Non's Chapel,
St Davids, Wales

It was said that St Brigid could miraculously milk her cows three times a day to provide a meal for visitors. According to the Celtic tradition, the guest was seen as Christ and hospitality was extended in that spirit.

Brigid later founded a school of art that included metalwork and illumination. It was at this school that the Book of Kildare, which Gerald of Wales praised as "the work of angelic, and not human skill," was beautifully illuminated. Sadly, this book was lost three centuries ago.

We can also see the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. For example, two of the grave slabs at Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo, bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is remarkably close to a design in the Book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD.

The Celts worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. In some respects, the nature of the Celtic religion helped in the development of Christianity. Their belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in understanding the resurrection of Christ. The Celts also had their own sacrifices and ritual meals which, in a sense, mirrored aspects of Christian message.

Brigid’s enduring legacy

St Brigid still lives on 1,500 years later in the minds and hearts of the people of Ireland. Her monastery grew and grew and people from all over Ireland came here, many of whom joined the monastery. St Patrick and St Brigid paved the way for Christianity in Ireland and later to Europe.

Hundreds of holy wells are dedicated to St Brigid in Ireland. Early Irish texts suggest that holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals and were even protected by the old religion. For example, it is believed that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the large number of holy wells throughout the country.

More places names in Ireland are named after St Brigid than St Patrick himself. St Brigid is associated with fertility on the land. Straw doll-like effigies of St Brigid known as Breedeag were used to bless homes.

St Brigid’s relevance today.

St Brigid appreciated the importance of the land, nature and the seasons. At a time when our planet is threatened by global warming and climate change, Brigid reminds us of the need to confront these challenges now. Today, we can learn from her example of compassion, kindness, generosity, and hospitality, as the World deals with the consequences of poverty, war, population displacement and the current Covid-19 pandemic.

On February 1^st, 525, St Brigid died of natural causes. Her body was initially kept to the right of the high altar of Kildare Cathedral. In 1185, John de Courcy had her remains relocated in Down Cathedral. Today, Saint Brigid's skull can be found in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Lumiar, Portugal. The tomb in which it is kept bears the inscription,

"Here in these three tombs lie the three Irish knights who brought the head of St. Brigid, Virgin, a native of Ireland, whose relic is preserved in this chapel. In memory of which, the officials of the Altar of the same Saint caused this to be done in January AD 1283."

In 1905 Sister Mary Agnes of the Dundalk Convent of Mercy took a purported fragment of the skull to St Bridget's Church in Kilcurry. In 1928, Fathers Timothy Traynor and James McCarroll requested another fragment for St Brigid's Church in Killester, a request granted by the Bishop of Lisbon, António Mendes Belo.

For further information please see:

Sacred Heart Messenger, February 2019 – article by John Scally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwJD00w9UM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndQKbE0M7l8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqpJkSfIrAc

Ireland Before St. Patrick

Image of an Ancient Crannog

As we approach yet another St. Patrick’s Day it is, perhaps, worth reflecting on what Ireland was like in pre-Christian times. We have to look to archaeologists and other scholars to provide us with an insight into the past. Yet, it is worth noting that, even today, we can still see glimpses of that pagan past all around us.

Ireland, in those days, was very different from Britain in many ways: it had its own language, political structures, customs and laws. It had not been invaded by Roman legions. It was also located at the furthest reaches of the known world.

Unlike Britain and Gaul, for example, the country did not have any major urban centres. Any political centres, such as they may have been, were likely to be associated with cult sites linked to kingship as in the case of Tara, Rathcroghan, Knockaulin and Armagh. As scholars often point out, the very word paganus ‘pagan’ actually means a rural dweller who lived in a pagus ‘rural environment’.

For Christian and non-Christians alike, death, burial, and the subsequent treatment of the dead, were purely matters for the family. The Christian clergy were not involved at all and pagans and Christians were buried alongside one and other in family graves.

Hill of Slane where St. Patrick
           Lit the Paschal Fire

The two prevalent burial types in Ireland from the late centuries BC and early centuries AD were cremations and inhumations, with the former more prevalent in the early period and inhumation becoming common into the first millennium AD.  Interestingly, cremation did not become obsolete, and instances of this practice have been dated to as late as the eight century.

Some non-Christian funerary customs continued to be practised, including burial in cemeteries not obviously associated with a church. Burned grain, antler tine and pig bones have been found in pre-Christian graves signifying some form of rite.

In 1959 the skeleton of a young woman, the skull of an infant approximately two years old, together with some animal bones (sheep/goat, dog and antler), were found in a bog in the townland of Derrymaquirk on the eastern side of Lough Gara, Co Roscommon. Archaeologists believe that the piece of antler may have been significant in terms of the religious beliefs of the time. This burial has been dated to between 750 - 200 BC.

Christian cemeteries or ‘holy ground’, in which most of the population were buried, developed from the late seventh century onwards. However, during the fifth and sixth centuries, burial practices for the nobility - clerics, kings and other aristocrats – began to change. This was due to what has been described as the cult of saints. Early Christians believed that by being buried near a holy grave they could hope to stand beside the saint on the day of the resurrection.

Decorated Grave Slab from Carrowntemple
Co. Sligo

We can also see the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. Two of the grave slabs at Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo, bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is very close to a design in the Book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD. Several of the panels of the seventh century Moylough Belt-shrine, found only a few miles west of Carrowntemple, have this same mix of Pagan and Christian artwork.

Experts believe that many of the Irish Iron Age bog bodies are the remains of former kings who were sacrificed. The scarcity of such finds suggests that the sacrificial killings were only undertaken when a king’s reign had proven unsuccessful because of defeat in war, or due to famine or pestilence. The bodies were deposited in boundary bogs as offerings to the goddess who was associated with sovereignty, death and fertility.

Crucifixion Plaque
Clogher Holy Well

Early Irish texts suggest that holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals and were even protected by the old religion. For example, it is believed that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the large number of holy wells throughout the country.

The Celts worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. In some respects, the nature of the Celtic religion helped in the development of Christianity. Their belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in understanding the resurrection of Christ. The Celts also had their own sacrifices and ritual meals which, in a sense, mirrored aspects of Christian message.

Pagan Ireland was very different from Britain with its own language, political structures, customs and laws. The two prevalent burial types in Ireland from the late centuries BC and early centuries AD were cremations and inhumations with the former continuing late as the eight century. Christian cemeteries or ‘holy ground’ developed from the late seventh century onwards. Early Christian grave slabs show the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. Human sacrifice was practised in pagan times and Holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3vMGy2gQks

Carrowntemple - Early Christian Enclosure

Grave Slab 2 - Carrowntemple

My recent posts dealt with Boyle and Cloonshanville Abbeys so I thought I would continue the monastic theme by including the early Christian site at Carrowntemple, near the village of Gurteen, Co Sligo, in my blog. There is an excellent piece about this early church on the Lough Gara Lakes and Legends website.

There were originally two enclosures around the Carrowntemple complex but both are now partly demolished. The area of the inner enclosure is 0.4 ha. (1 acre) while the outer enclosure has an area of 6 ha. (15 acres). At the centre of the inner enclosure are the remains of a plain medieval parish church measuring 9.40m by 6.40m still standing 3.10m high. This church is probably on the site of earlier wooden churches going back in time to the foundation of the monastery. The church had a single-light east window.

Grave Slab 3 - Carrowntemple

Souterrains or underground chambers to the west of the church ruins would have been used for storage and refuge in times of trouble.

Over the years fourteen stone grave slabs, dating from the early Christian period, were found mainly to the south and east of the church within the old graveyard. In 1984 five of these slabs were removed from the graveyard. These were recovered in 1986 and, later that year, the remaining exposed slabs on site were taken into care by Sligo County Council.

Grave Slab 5 - Carowntemple

Between 1990 and 1992 Cillian Rogers made replicas of the slabs for the Council and these are well worth a visit. The finance for this project was provided by the National Heritage Council. Two of the original slabs have been on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

Martin Timoney, archaeologist, states that the Carrowntemple grave slabs are surprising in two ways:

“Firstly, how so many superb slabs did not come to archaeological notice until 1973 is simply amazing. Secondly, some of the designs are outstanding, even unique, for many reasons.”

Moylough Belt-Shrine

He points out that two of the slabs (No’s. 2 and 3), bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is very close to a design in the book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD. Several of the panels of the seventh century Moylough Belt-shrine, found only a few miles west of Carrowntemple, have this same mix of Pagan and Christian artwork. Some of the slabs are linked by their designs and so a 7^th and 8^thcentury date has been accepted for many of the slabs.

Grave Slab 6 - Carrowntemple

Half of a cylindrical plinth stone, thought to have been used to hold erect the double-sided No 10 slab was found. The designs are considered to be much more elaborate than those of any other Co Sligo grave slab of the period with the exception of those on Inishmurray. On slabs 3,4,5,6,8 and 11 it is the band and not the groove that forms the design.

The Carrowntemple grave slabs raise interesting questions about the transition between pagan Ireland and the arrival of Christianity. Edel Bhreathnach’s excellent book “Ireland in the Medieval World AD 400-1000” provides some valuable insights into this period.

The coming of Christianity to the island is traditionally linked to St. Patrick, who is said to have converted the Irish during the early fifth century. However, Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine a year earlier in AD431, to minister as bishop ‘to the Irish believing in Christ’. Scholars believe that the existence of Christian communities in Ireland was known to Rome at this time.

Patrick left an account of his mission in two important Latin documents, his Confessio, which was a defence of his mission against critics in Britain, and his Epistola, a letter condemning a British king, Coroticus, for attacking and enslaving some of his newly converted Christian flock.

Christianity in early medieval Ireland was administered by bishops, priests and abbots, some in orders, others who were lay people. All kinds of church buildings were constructed from simple post and wattle structures to larger stone churches and monumental enclosures.

The two prevalent burial types in Ireland from the late centuries BC and early centuries AD were cremations and inhumations, with the former more prevalent in the early period and inhumation becoming common into the first millennium AD.  Interestingly, cremation did not become obsolete, and instances of this practice have been dated to as late as the eight century.

For Christian and non-Christians alike, death, burial, and the subsequent treatment of the dead, were purely matters for the family. The Christian clergy were not involved at all and pagans and Christians were buried alongside one and other in family graves.

However, during the fifth and sixth centuries, burial practices for the nobility - clerics, kings and other aristocrats – began to change. This was due to what has been described as the cult of saints. Early Christians believed that by being buried near a holy grave they could hope to stand beside the saint on the day of the resurrection. The practice of burying people inside city walls developed, so that they could rest near the altars of urban churches.

Grave Slab 10 - Carrowntemple

Irish society of the early medieval period very gradually progressed from ancestral and familial rites to rites and cemeteries controlled by the church. Often these practices were not mutually exclusive. Some non-Christian funerary customs continued to be practised, including burial in cemeteries not obviously associated with a church.

It is not until at least the eight century, when the church exerted its influence more widely, that it is possible to classify with some certainty the difference between a Christian and non-Christian burial or cemetery.

The Christian rituals most prominent in St. Patrick’s Confessio and Epistola are the rites of baptism and confirmation which were rites of passage and initiation. Christian baptism, conferred a new identity on Patrick’s followers that, in the fifth century, would have probably set them apart from their own society, thereby, creating a community within a community.

Scholars believe that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the proliferation of holy wells throughout the country. Holy wells are thought to have been sacred places in pre-Christian times and may have continued to be associated with non-Christian rituals.

 St Attracta's Holy Well - Clogher

Carrowntemple, with its intricately carved Early Christian grave slaps derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age, offers a glimpse of the intersection of these two important periods in the history of Ireland.

For further information please see:

Bhreathnach, Edel, ‘Ireland in the Medieval World AD 400-1000’ (Four Courts Press 2014)

http://www.loughgaralakesandlegends.ie/carrowntemple-grave-slabs