T H E E A R LY I R I SH M ON A ST I C SC H OO L S

’ A STUDY OF I R ELAND S CONTR IBUTION TO EA RLY M EDI EVAL CULTURE

H U G H G R A H A M , M . A .

P r r r a ofes s o of E d u c a ti o n . Co llege of S t . Te es .

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D U BL I N TALBOT PRESS LIMITED 85 TALBOT STREET

1 923

PREFAC E

THE aim of the present study is to give within reasonable limits a critical and fairly complete account of the Irish Monastic Schools which flourish d D e prior to 900 A . . The period dealt with covering as it does the one o f sixth , seventh , eighth , and ninth centuries is the most obscure in the history of education . In accordance With established custom writers are wont to bewail the decline of learning consequent on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century and then they pass on rapidly to the

fifteenth Renaissance in the ; a few , however , pau se to glance at the Carolingian Revival of learning in the ninth century and to remark paren thetically that learning was preserved in Ireland and a few isolated places o n the fringe of Roman

Civilization , but With some notable exceptions writers as a class have failed to realise that as in other departments of human knowledge there is a continuity in the history of education . The great

vi i . viii PREFACE connecting link between the Renaissance and the G raeco - Roman culture which flouri shed in Western Europe during the early centuries of our era is the

Irish Monastic Schools . Modern research clearly points to the conclusion that the history of these schools is in reality a chapter in the history of education in Western Europe . While we do not claim that the Irish schools were the sole factor in the pres ervation and transmission of letters during the Early Middle Ages we are certainly convinced that they played a leading part . The cumulative evidence which we submit amply warrants this conclusion . The many tributes of a complimentary nature which scholars have bestowed on the work of the Irish Monastic Schools would indicate that the importance of their influence has not been over loo ked ; yet it seems to u s that their real aim and

character have not always been clearly understood .

In a certain respect these schools were unique : they were neither purely classical schools of the

t flourished n type hat in Gaul in the fourth ce tury , nor were they mere theological seminaries such as existed in certain parts of B ritain and the Continent

influenc that lay outside the Irish sphere of e . The peculiar character of the I rish monastic school would appear to be the result of the harmonious PREFACE ix

: 1 combination of three distinct elements , Native

2 G raeco - Irish Culture ; , Christianity ; 3 , Roman

Culture . We believe that this conception of Irish monastic culture furnishes the key to a proper understanding of the real significance of Irish scholarship during the Early Middle Ages . No study of Irish monastic schools which neglected to give due consideration to the potent influence of each of these three constituents would be adequate

of con even if it were intelligible . The force this viction which is the result of a prolonged and critical examination of all the relevant material to hand has determined the form which the present study has assumed . The first and second chapters are not merely

first introductory they are fundamental . In the chapter we discuss the question of a pre - Christian

- and pre classical native Irish culture . The second chapter is devoted to an examination of that difficult problem , the beginnings of classical learn — ing in Ireland a matter on which modern research i ho has thrown considerable light . As the s c o l was so intimately connected with the monastic system it was necessary to devote a special chapter to an examination of the more salient features of Irish monasticism which differed in many ways i from Continental monast cism . Here we are im PREFACE

presse d with the fact that the native Irish ideals blended with those of Christianity so as to give the Irish monastic life a peculi arly national character which was ever refle cted in the educational aims and ideals of the I rish monk even when his mis sionary zeal carried him far from the environment

his u of native land . In the fo rth chapter the attempt is made to determine the precise relation which existed between the Irish monastic school and the general educational situation not only in Ireland and Britain but in Western Europe from 650 to 900 A. O . Those three great centres of intel — lectual life in every Irish monastery the school i u — room , the scr ptori m and the library are treated in fifth u the chapter . The particular f nction of each and its relation to the others is described while t influence heir combined , whether of a con

m . temporary or per anent nature , has been noticed Th e all- importa nt question of the nature of the cur riculum has been critically examined in the sixth

. i a chapter F n lly , a chapter is given to a discussion of th e scope o f Iris h scholarship and its significance

e a in Medi v l Cultu re . While a work o f this nature can scarcely claim to be original and the acknowledgments are too

ro nume us to recount , yet the grouping is new and not unfrequently facts have been presented from a PREFACE xi

new angle . Source material has been consulted where possible . The results of previous investiga

tion have been freely used , but even as often happened when we have arrived at conclusions which have been anticipated by other writers , we have maintained quite as critical and independent an attitude as when we ventured to challenge certain popular opinions and to make such generalizations as the result of our own study

seemed to warrant . In some instances , however , this study has carried u s into fields of inquiry where we have no credentials , but in these cases as in every other where we have used secondary authorities

- acknowledgment is always made in the foot notes . In various ways we have endeavoured to con dense a good deal of information into a limited

For space . example , to avoid repetition we give frequent cross references to important topics dealt with in different parts of this study . Again , instead of attempting the bewildering and impo s sible task of giving an account of individual schools we have given a list of the more important ones and merely referred to particular schools as occasion demanded in order to illustrate certain points of

For primary importance . similar reasons all attempts at biographical accounts of Irish scholars

have been studiously avoided . Such references xfi PREFACE

as have occasionally -been made were necessary in carrying out o ur general plan which was to deal with the Irish monastic school as an educational Oi u ins titution . course it wo ld have served no useful purpose to ignore completely those men whose acknowledged scholarship was the best testi mony of the character of the instruction available in the s chools in which they themselves stu died and

A word might be said with reference to the pro o p rtion of s pace occupied by the different topics . The plan invariably followed has been to give a minimum of space to any topic which is treated a n f irly fully elsewhere in some accessible work . O the other hand no topic which appeared to be integral part of the general plan has been omitted and s uch topics as have been inadequately treated sew el here have here received fuller consideration . While quite cons cious o f the limitati ons of our

ea is tr tment , it hoped that by pointing out many supplementary sources of information we have done so m h et ing to smooth the path of other investigators ma who y wish to explore those portions of the same he w ld hich lay outside the scope of our present inquiry The a uthor wishes to expres s his sincere thanks to the w : D r . l H . i follo ing to F etcher Sw ft , Professo r PREFACE xfii

of the History of Education in the University o f

Minnesota , for his sympathetic interest in the sub j e ct and for his advice and guidance ; to Rev .

P o f St . Laurence . Murray , Principal ’

Co . Brigid s Irish College , Omeath , Louth , for the use of his excellent Irish library and for helpful suggestions and criticisms of the earlier chapters ;

Dr . uilda . G to Rev Peter y , Professor of History C f . o D . in the Catholic University Washington , , for reading the M S . and for his advice and encourage ’ r l ment ; to M . Patrick O Da y of the Talbot Press for seeing the work through the press and for pains — taking proof reading ; and finally to the publishers for turning out the work in an attractive and scholarly form .

COLLEGE OF . ST TERESA, WINONA MI E O , NN S TA U . S. A ,

L d Fh éi le P a d r a 1 2 9 3 . ig .

C O N T E N T S

P AG E

I I —TH G I I G S OF C ASSI CA . E BE NN N L L LEARNI NG

TI L—I RI SIL M ONASTI CI SM

I —H R ATI ON OF TH I RI H V . T E EL E S

M o n a s 't rc SCH OOLS TO TH E

G ENERAL ED U CATI ONAL SI TUA

- TI ON (5 50 900 A . D . ) — V . CENTRES OF I NTELLECTUAL LI FE I N I RI SH M ONASTERI ES — VI . COURSE OF STUDI ES

- > VI I . Sc o r E AND I NFLU ENCE OF I RI SH

SCH OLARSH I P

B I BLI OG RAPH Y —(a) SOU RCES

(b) SECONDARY AUTH ORI TI ES Th e a ges wh ich d es erve an ex a ct enq uiry ar e th o se tim es (fo r s uch th e re wer e) wh en I r elan d wa s th e Sch oo l o f th e Wes th e u et h ab ta t o n o f sanct t an d t, q i i i i y " l t ra i e tu re .

- Ext ract fro m a le tte r wri tten by Dr . Sam u e l J o h n so n ( 1 709 ‘ 1 780) to Ch a rles O co n n o r ( 1 7 1 0 p u bli s h e d i n Ed wa r d ’ ‘ O Re i ll s I r s h Wr te rs . i . . D ubl n 1 77 0. y i i . p p . ii i ,

e eu le m o na s t ue d es tem s barba res le e u le L p p iq p , p p m s s o n a r e e t d es t n é a a o r ter la lu m er e d e la foi et i i , i p p i ' d e la s c e nce dans les ténébr es cro s sa n tes d e l Oc c i d en t i i , ' c e s t le p e u ple I r lan d ai s d o n t o n co n n a i t m i eu x le s ’ m a lh eu r s q u e les s ervices e t d ont o n n a p a s a sse z ' ' " e tu d ié l t n u a u a n — e o te vo c tio . O za n a m F re d e r c . L a C v l z a t o n Ch réti cm u oh u la . i i i i i

Fr a n cs .

Rodd et i n each cill ca id Eti t ti r i s tui n n d i s tr a i g Fo gla i m ecna i cr ab ud De — Lu be ir c reta co m m a i rg e . Fro m a oe m a tt r bu ted to Fla n n F n e th e I r sh n a m e p i i . i o f Ald tri th K n f N m r a d t o o rth u b . 04 wh d . i g i ( 7 o s u ied

i n I re la n d .

Te xt i n a ll B r v . . 67 Tra n slat o n 74 . i . i . p . i . p .

C m t t e mo t eo ra 4 mé mm n 61 5 ‘ 0 0 é p u m m ge o ra 6 rc o rt -re a n ém

b e d m o t u m m d ) m o mo 1 66 s r , 5 p 31

A t r o n o t e i m u a a t e e Am . r r , m

o o Au c ugo p. THE EARLY IRISH M ONASTIC SCHOOLS

CHAPTER I

CIVI LI ZATION AND LEARNI NG I N I RELAN D I N PAGAN TI M ES

TH E precise state of civilization and learning in Ireland in pre - Christian times is difficult to deter mine owing to the fact that there is no native contemporary evidence of a documentary nature , while the references in the works of foreign writers are few in number and generally vague in character . of Fortunately , however , there are a few sources information which have been made available by the laborious and scholarly researches of generations of ~ investigators . The principal of these sources are

Archaeology .

s - The o called Brehon Laws .

Early Irish Literature .

Foreign Testimony .

Ogarn Inscriptions .

( 0 4981 1 2 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

A brief survey of th e evidence supplied by each of these may be helpful in determining the nature and extent of Irish pagan culture .

ARCHE OLOGI CAL EVI DENCE Archaeological research shows that Ireland was inhabited from very early times though it is im possible to fix the exact chronological limit of the th e earliest colonization . Passing over beginnings of civilization which are exemplified by the crude implements and other remains of the Stone Age , we note that in the Bronze Age when the art of work ing metals had been discovered the existing speci mens o f the work o f these ancient craftsmen point to a relatively advanced stage of civilization . o f Indeed , an examination the discoveries of this period amply ju stifie s the statement that in point o f wealth , artistic feeling and workmanship , the Irish craftsmen of the Bronze Age surpassed those o f of The doyen prehistoric chronology ,

Dr . Mo ntelius d Oscar of Stockholm , having studie a of r the ntiquities the B itish Isles , gave the result 2 1 1 of his labours in a memoir published in 9 8 . This is s work now the tandard authority on this subject .

Dr . M o ntelius divides the Bronze Age into five i s per od . In the first period he includes the Tr ansitional Period where copper was in use (Co ppe r period) which he places between the

l H d e . Do u la s L te r a r H s to r o I r la n d 2 , y y e . 1 2 . y g i i f , p 2 Ci ted b eo r e Co fe B r o nt e A e i n I r el d y y , a n . 2 . G g f g , p p , 3

4 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

From such material remains it would appear to be a legitimate deduction that even at this early age the Irish were skilled craftsmen and acquired by some means at least an elementary and indus trial and technical education and that they were already cultivating the e sthetic . Art was develop was ing on distinctly national lines , yet the country not is olated . There must have been direct com M r ha s m unic atio n with the Continent for . Coffey traced Aegean and Scandinavian influence in the 6 incised ornament of the New Grange group and Iberian influence on some of the later type of " bronze ornaments

TH E BREH ON LAWS The laws of a country dealing as they do with man in his relations to his fellow - man and society m general are always an important indication of the state of civili zation attained by the race which has

evolved them . In this connection a valuable so s rce of information on the social condition and state of culture attained by the pagan Irish is the native o f code laws , generally styled the Brehon Laws , Fei nne a c h but more correctly termed the us . According to a generally accepted tradition these

v s d fi A . O laws were re i ed and co i ed in 4 38 . by a committee of nine appointed by King Laoghaire at

6 Co fe eo r e N ew G r a n e and o th er l u ck ed Tu mu l f y , G g , g i, p . 6 2 . 7 Co fl e eor e Th e Br onze A e i I la n d n re . 2 2 . y , G g , g , pp , 7 LEARNING I N PAGAN TI M ES 5

the suggestion of St . Patrick . The committee K consisted of three kings (Laoghaire , High ing of K o f D K Ireland ; Corc , ing Munster ; and aire , ing

Cairnach St . of ) ; three saints ( Patrick , himself , t t C irnech S . a S . Benin and ) and three learned men 8 F r u s Dubhthach ea . (Ross , and g ) These laws grew up with the people from the very beginning o f society and took cognisance o f them from every o f s point view . They profe sed to regulate domestic of and social relations every kind , as well s s O as profes ions , trades , industrie , ccupations and 9 to o wages . As laws they are minute ; but this defect renders them valuable to the student who is interested in the social conditions of the period

during which they were evolved . As a recent 1 0 commentator has remarked The rigorously s authentic character of the e laws relating to , and dealing with the actual realities of life and with institutions and a state o f society nowhere else revealed to the same extent the extreme antiquity both of the provisions and the language in which o f Con they were written , and the meagreness tinental material illustrative of the same things e ar ch aeo ndow them with exceptional archaic , ” logical and philological interest . The develop ment of such a comprehensive and detailed code of laws must have been the work of many genera

’ 3 O D o n va n t s I A o ti r o u r M a s er . 1 2 . o oh n n n a ls e F . , J , f , , p 3 9 o c e P . W . ] y , , 1 0 G i n n e ll L a w r e n r t th h o L a ws i n th e ce , A cl e o n e B r e n ' ’ i E n c cl o md za B r i t a m ca y t . . 88 . z , IV , p 4 6 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHO OLS tions of lawmakers and suggest a relatively high o f degree native culture . In this connection one is inclined to quote the emphatic declaration of Dr . George Sigerso n who has won honours both as a He litterateur and as a scientist . says I assert that , biologically speaking , such laws could not emanate from any race whose brains had not been subject to the quickening influence of education for ” 1 1 many generations . In other words , such a code of laws can be accounted for only on the assumption of a high degree of culture as a racial heritage of the nation which evolved them .

EVI DENCE FRO M EARLY I RI S H LITERATURE There are many passages in the oldest Irish literature , both secular and religious , which state that the Iri sh had books before the introduction of 1 2

St . Christianity . In a memoir of Patrick written in the seventh century Mu irchu M ac cu Machteni u n o f i relates—how d ri g the contest the sa—int w th the druids the learned men of the time the High t ’ King Laoghaire proposed that o ne of S . Patrick s books and one belonging to the druids should be cast into the water to see which would come out —a i be uninjured kind of ordeal . Here it w ll ’ noticed that M uirchu s statement embodies a tradi

l i Q u o te d by Do ugla s Hyde i n A Litera ry His tory of [r e 1 a nd 1 3 1 3 Lab" zrd ma cha n u: o r B o o k o Ar ma h ed ted b ohn f g , i y J G wy n n p o LEARNING I N PAGAN TI M ES 7

tion which was old in the seventh century . The o t same story is told in the Trip ar tite Life f S . 1 3 P a tric k . Both the Irish bardic tales and the f t oldest existing lives o S . Patrick agree in stating that he found in the country both literary and pro fessional — — men all pagans druids , poets and 1 4 antiquarians or historians , as well as an elaborate f 1 5 code o laws . Although no Irish document has been preserved

which dates earlier than the seventh century , there is ample intrinsic evidence that the earliest existing documents were copied from manuscripts which go back a century o r two earlier and these again may have recorded the traditions o f a still earlier ‘ period . Authorities are agreed that after the establishment of Christianity in the fifth century the Irish scholars committed to writing no t only the f own & c . o laws , bardic historical poems , their

time , but those which had been preserved from earlier times whether traditionally or other 1 6 wise . In a subsequent chapter reference will be s made to a common practice of the Iri h monks , namely that o f making marginal and interlinear s glosses on the cla sical writings they were studying , o r i s sufli copying , teaching . For the present it

1 3 ’ Stokes Wh i tl e Tr i a r tzte L e o Si . P a tr ck I L , P , y , f if f i ,

2 84 . 1 4 o c e P a tr ck H r tar o I r el a n d I . . 02 . W . S o c a l y , i , i i f , , p 4 ‘ 1 5 % h e B r eh o n L a w s h a ve b een e i te d a n d tr a n s l a te d a n d u li s e d i n fi v e vo lu m e s With th e titl e Th e An czen t L a ws o f r eha nhi ’ 1 6 o i P etr e s Ta r a ce P o . h o c te s . W ci t . 1 0 w , I . . ] y , fi , p 1 3 , i p . 38 8 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C S CH O OLS cient to note that even in the case of the earliest o f the seventh century glosses the written language was fully developed and cultivated , with a polished phraseology and an elaborate and systematic grammar having well established forms for its words s i and fo r all its rich inflection . To the linguist c stu dent it is inconceivable how much a complete and regular system o f writing could have developed in the period which had elapsed from the intro duc tion of Christianity in the fifth century until the general spread of Christian learning in the seventh . to o s Such a period would be much short , e pecially when it is recollected that early Iri sh literature had its roots not in Christianity but in the native learn s ing which was the main , and almost the ole , fl n s in ue ce in developing it . Thi consideration points clearly to the conclusion that native learning was carefully and systematically cultivated before the introduction of Christianity . n Agai , Irish poetry owes its development solely 17 to the Lay Schools . It had complicated prosody —with numerous technical term s18 all derived from the Irish langu age . These vernacular terms used in Irish gr ammar contrast strikingly with th e terms used to designate the o ffice s and ceremonies of Christianity which were almost all derived from ” i Latin . All this would go to prove that Ir sh

1 7 See Ch a te r f r e I r h a p IV . o a b ri e f a cco u n t o f th is L y Sc h l oo s . 13 ee ' ’ S u n d er P r oso d O Do n o va n s I r s h G r a m m a r . y , i 19 See o c e P . W o c a H s to y , S l ry o I r el a nd I . . 1 6 . J i i f , , p 3 LEARNING I N PAGAN TI M ES 9

prosodial rules and technical terms , and of course

Irish poetry itself , were fully developed before the

introduction of Christianity .

FO REIGN TESTI M ONY

At least o ne foreign writer bears witness of the

fact that the pagan Irish possessed books . A Christian philosopher of the fourth century (some would place him as early as the second o r third) whose name is Aethicus of Istria wrote a Cosmo graphy of the World in which he states that on leaving Spain he hastened to Ireland where he spent ” some time examining their books ( eo rum 2° vo lumina vo lven Aethicu s s) . is not by any means He complimentary . calls the Irish sages unskilled ‘ of and uncultivated teachers , but he speaks the

Spaniards in a similar strain . Possibly no t under standing the Irish language he regarded all learning outside of Greece and Rome as barbarous and beneath notice However , his statement proves that when he visited Ireland there were books at St ’ least a century before . Patrick s advent it als o shows that he found them in such abundance that he spent some time in examining them .

Co s m o r a h i a Aeth i ci I s tr i ed ted b H W ke g p . u tt , i y , L e1 5 1 c 1 p , 854 . C te d b o ce P . i t W . o ) . . c I . y y . 0 . i J , , z , p 4 4 Ci ted b M e er Ku n o L ea r n i I a d y n n r el n . 1 1 . y , , i g , p C1 ted b W o o d - M a r t n P a a I l a d y n r e n . 8 . i , g , p 4 1 0 THE EARLY I RI SH MONASTI C SCHO OLS

O GAM INSCRI PTI ON S The point has now been reached when it is necessary to discuss the kind of writing used in o f pagan times . As has been stated , none the

- books of pre Christian Ireland are now extant , so evidence as to the kind of writing in u se must be sought elsewhere . In the absence of books the coinage of a country has often given valuable information in this connection . In the case of

Ireland , however , this source of information is lacking for though metals were worked from very early times and gold was plentiful no trace of a t native coinage has been found . Luckily here remain in the stone inscriptions the clearest proofs that the ancient Irish practised a peculiar kind of writing called Ogam .

DESCRI PTION O F OGAM

Ogam or Ogham was a species of writing the letters of which were a combination of short lines ou and points , and at both sides of a middle or stem l n e n n i e called a fl s c . In the specimens still remai i g this Ogam writing is almost entirely confined to stone inscriptions , the groups of lines and points running along two adjacent sides of a s tone with n es the a gular edge for the fl c . The arrangement 21 may be understood from a simple diagram .

31 See o ce P . . W So c a l H s to r o I r el a n d I . . J y . i i y f , , p 397

1 2 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH O OLS

is to be found in the Book of Ballyrnote . Owing to the fact that a few of the later Ogams have been foun d with duplicates in Roman letters they have distri been deciphered independently . As to the butio n of these Ogam inscribed stones it is worthy of note that in Ireland they are found chicfly in the

- co nfined south west , and in Britain they are to those part s where it is known the Irish Gael had 22 s ettled . Owing to the lack of criteria for dating certain s ound - changes in the Irish langu age it is imposs ible in the present stage of our knowledge to assign definite chronologi cal limits to these ” r n in Ogam inscriptions . M . Quigge his account “ o f Ogam asserts that the earlier inscriptions can not be later than the fifth century and if pagan

they may be a century or two earlier . All Ogam inscriptions with accompanying Roman letters he

s D . would as ign to a later period than 500 A . with the sole exception of the bilingual inscription of Killen Cormac (Cillin Cormac) which is believed D 25 to be earlier than 500 A. . Over three hundred Ogam ins cription s have been found and where they

22 Fo r th e eo r a h i c a l d str i bu t o n o f a m n s cr t on s g g p ’ i i Og i i—p i see Co fe G e o r e u 1 d e to C l i n An a u i t s 1 1 G o w . 0 1 06 . f y , g . q , p p ” P e r h a ps th e bes t di vi si o n o f th e I ri sh l a n u a e i n to pe ri o d s i s th a t gi ven by E o i n M a c Ne i ll i n h i s cd a r n a G a ec ki l e M a 1 08 P r e - O e m be o re 00 AD 0 a m , y , 0 , f 3 f AD o fi Th e 1d I r sh 01 th e M SS . “; s i — A. . gm D . Mi dd le I ri sh 1 ooo 1 00 A. D Mo d — , 5 s r oo P r e sen a D u r n h e r e e n s tu d w e sh a ll s t D y . i g t p s t fr e u en t ly u s e th e wo r d s Old I r i sh to conn o te e P e n o d i n c 11 d n th e th h n en ri 8t a d th c tu es . i gy 7 , , o ' 24 u i en E C Ar t1 cl a m i n E n c cl o e dm . . e on O Q gg , , g y p B r i ta n m ca v l v — o . , p p . 6 2 2 6 2 3 . 26 — o ce P . W o . i j y , c t . I . . 8 p , p p 39 390 LEARNING IN PAGAN TI M ES 1 3 have not been injured or defaced they can generally

be interpreted . Heroes and druids in the older epics are rept e u se of sented as making constant Ogam letters , s The sometimes inscribing them on wooden taves . state of civilization depicted in thes e ancient poems and prose narratives seems to belong mainly to pre

Christian Ireland . There is some difference in opinion as to the means whereby the Irish discovered the use o f letters . One thing is certain , the Ogam alphabet s a is ba ed on the L tin alphabet . Some think that the Irish first became acquainted with the Roman alphabet through direct trade with the Continent , 26 but it is more probable a s M a c Neill has shown that this knowledge was acquired from the Romanized s first o r Briton from the second century onward .

“ But how o r why they invented the Ogam alphabet s of u s1n in tead g the Roman letters , or else Greek s a s one like the G ul , is a profound mystery . There

can , however , be no doubt that the Ogam alphabet at whatever time invented , is the peculiar posses s ion of the Irish Gael and is to be found only where he had his settlements .

SU M M ARY From the preceding discussion we may safely conclude

26 ' M a cNe i ll E Oi D Ar t cl e I r s h 0 a m , , i i 1 1 1 5 6 n t 0’ ’ 1 11 th e P r o c d ee n g s of th e R oya l [r s k Aca dgm u 1 i i i y , J y 929f 1 4 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 1 1 011115 1 1 0 SCHOOLS I

1 . That long before the Christian era the Ancient Irish had developed many useful arts and were skilled and artistic craftsmen .

2 . That they had a code of laws that was well suited to the state of society that then existed , and that with slight alterations it was well adapted to meet the requirements of the higher civilization of Christianity (A corroboration of this view is the well - known fact that at a much later date many of the Anglo - No rrnan settlers abandoned their o wn code of laws and adopted the Brehon Code to which they became as much attached as the Irish them selves) .

n 3 . That native learni g was actively cultivated and systematically developed before the intro duc tion of Christianity .

4 . That there was a learned class called dru ids s rians who were the priests , teachers , poets , hi to and judges . (The same man in early times com bine d e i e s in himself all thes functions , but in later t m there was a tendency to specialize) .

5 . That the Pagan Irish had a knowledge of letters and that they wrote their learning or part of it in book s and cut Ogam ins criptions on stone and wood , but how they obtained this knowledge we have no certain means of determining . CHAPTER I I

TH E BEG I NNI NGS O F CLASSI CAL LEARNI NG

H ITH ERTO o ur study has been limited to a discus sion of native Irish culture influenc ed but slightly from the outside . Here the attempt is made to trace the beginnings of classical learning . In this connection it is worth noting that Ireland occupies the unique position of being the only part of the Celtic world that was no t brought under the sway of is Roman arms . The consequence is that she one of the very few nations of We s tern Europe whos e civilization was free to develop along native

lines . Yet it must not be supposed that Ireland remained completely aloof from the G rae co - Roman 1 culture to which the world owes so much . The great difference between Ireland and the other Celtic countries such as Britain and Gaul lies in this in Gaul the combined forces o f Roman arms and Roman culture wiped o ut almost every trace of o f native culture , the same is true the greater part 2

. o n of Britain In Ireland , the other hand , Roman

’ 1 B u r B L o i . P a tr ch 1 S . . y . e 0 , J if f i , p 2 i er s n r B a r d s o th a e a d S g o , eo e , f e l n G a ll , I n tr o du c ' G g G t1 on , p . 1 . 1 6 THE EARLY I R I SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS learning was introduced in a peaceful manner (at fifth least as early as the century , as will be shown later) . Now as we have seen native learning was n s already developi g along national line , the result was that not only did the native learning continue to flont ish unchecked by the arrival o f the new learning but the former actually received a fresh ’ ls impu e , while classical learning was cultivated to an extent that is without parallel in contemporary 4 Bum pe . The precise way in which letters reached Ireland and the causes which led to that remarkable out burst of class ical learning towards the close of the sixth century ” 5 are matters on which most writers s expres themselves vaguely , or assume that certain ill - defined influ ence s emanating from Britain or

Gaul somehow reached her shores , but at what time or by what means they have not been able to determine . The introduction of classical learning as well as t i of Christianity is popularly ascribed to S . Patr ck

2 D . whose missionary work began 4 3 A. This Opinion though wide s pread will not stand a critical

. t S . examination It is true , however , that Patrick is the first pers on whose name is associated with the introduction o f classical learning of whom it can be said that the writings ascribed to him are really

P o etr y , p p . 8 , o. 4 ’ ° De u ba n vi lle H . d Ar b i s L 1 ter a tu r e Cel t u e I . 1 J i , o , iq , , p . . 5 r Ku no L ea n M e e , , rn I r el a n d i n th e F th Cen tur y y i g if , 1 p . . CLASS I CAL LEARNING I 7

6 Bo o k o Arm a h c . 80 his . In the f g (completed “ D A . . ) there is a document called his Confession , or apology which was copied by the scribe Torbach 6 from the original . Although the Confession and other writings attributed to St . Patrick may be admitted as genuine , it must not be assumed that the learning fo r which Ireland became famous s during the ixth , seventh and eighth centuries could 7 have been the result of his labours . Most people ’ t s who have read S . Patrick writings will admit that he makes no claim to be a scholar but o n the con trary he ha s a very humble opinion of himself and us of o f reminds frequently his ignorance letters . 8 ’ As s s is a s Bury ay , His Latin rustic as the ” t St S . . Greek of Mark and Matthew , and Whitley Stokes infers from his writings that he 9 t n s S . knew o Greek . In this re pect Patrick was no worse than many of his famous contemporaries s s fo r — i s and ucce sors , example his Latin no more ’ rustic than that of Gregory of Tours who lived t ’ a century later . Indeed S . Patrick s claim to fame rest s o n higher grounds than those o f classical scholarship . He was a preacher and organizer rather than a man of letters He was a ho m o unius ' li bn but with that book , the Christian Scriptures ,

6 See I n tr o d u ct o n to h e B o o k o A a t f r m h , ed . b oh n i . g J w n n a l so e y ; Hyd , D ou la s t em r H s tor y o r el a n d G — g , y i f , PP I 37 4 39 7 Z 1 m m er H el n n ch Cel tzc Ch u r ch 1 B zta a d I , , 11 r m n r el a n d , 1 p . 3 . 8 B u r B L e o St . P a tr c y . k 2 06 . , J if f i , p . 9 Stok e s Wh l e Tr a r t t t e L e o Si . P a tr ck L , i y , ip i if f i , , c p . xxxv . ( D498) 1 8 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

“ it he was extraordinarily familiar . Yet some wr ers have attributed the introduction of learning and t even of the Roman alphabet to S . Patrick . It is tru e that in the Tripartite Life there are frequent statements that he wrote Abgitori a (usually tr ans u rts lated Alphabets) for his noble or bardic co nve . al ts It is very probable that these do not mean phabe , as is usually supposed , like that on the pillar stone 1 2 Kilmakedar K elemente B C of in erry , but , the A of the Christian Doctrine . This explanation seems j ustifie d by the words Abgitir Cr a baid glos sed 13 niti ur the i um fidei in a Wii rzb g M S . In Tripartite Aib itir in Cra baid— s occur the words , —g tran lated the Alphabet of Piety where a s pe cimen is given 1‘ of a work so entitled For these and other reasons which will be stated presently the weight of evidence is against attributing to St . Patrick the introduction of the Roman alphabet or any liberal measure of classical learning . us It has also been suggested that some of the t Britons or Gauls who accompanied S . Patrick brought these studies to Ireland , but Meyer thinks this most improbable and dismisses the idea that any missionaries whether Gallic o r British intro du d s ce clas ical learning into Ireland . The origin

1 0 Bu r . a t . P a tr c y S k . 2 I , p 06 . ° i 1 1 Sto kes Wh i t 1e i r t1 t r a e L e o St . P a tr ck I 1 1 2 . y , p if f i , . , 1 8 1 0— 2 2 2 2 3 . 9 3 , 3 6 , 3 7 3 2 8 ° ” o c e P W So c1 a H 1 to r o I l a . . I s r e n d . I . . See J y , , y f . p 430 i llu s t r ti n a o . ' 1 3 Wfi n bu r Co d er , 33 c . 1 3 . 1 4 Sto kes i i t h t l o . c x v , y , p p . iii . 1 5 Ro e r M zm e n m m t d c: Lettn : Clas a n a: 2 2 g , m g p . 2 .

2 0 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH O OLS ment of learning to the inhabitants of these ” 1 9 regions . This theory is supported by a pass ’ ” 2° age in St . Patrick s Confession where evidently replying to the attacks of certain rhetori c ians who were hostile to him , the saint exclaims You rhetoricians who know not the Lord hear a u and search who it was th t called me p , fool be though I , from the midst of those who call them selves wis e and skilled in the law and mighty orators ” 1 and powerful in everything . Meyer maintains that the reference is to the pagan rhetoricians from Gaul whose arrogant presumption founded on their own learning made them regard with disdain the s illiterate apostle of the Scot . His few and forcible epithets well describe the type of rhetorician com

mon in Gaul . ’ If Meyer s theory is correct , and it seems the

most tenable that has been advanced , then we may conclude that Ireland derived her clas sical learning

from Gaul when Gallic scholarship was at its best . This would explain the excellence of the Latin and as the acquaintance with Greek which , we shall s s how , was exhibited by the Irish scholar who Columbanus visite—d the Continent from the time of (543 6 1 5) to that of Johannes Sco ttus Er iugena 1 — ( c . 8 0 0 .

19 i M e er n o . y , Ku o c t . . 6 . , p p p 5 , o ke B o o k 0 Ar m a h 1 . 2 2 b . 2 ; a l so St s , g , — l T ti t t . t t e n a r e L e a S t . P a n ck . 80 y , p if , p p 3 57 3 21 Tr a n s la ted r o m Lat n o f Tr a r t te L e . 60 f i ip i if , p p 3 1 36 . CLASSI CAL LEARNING 2 I

The more o ne examines this subject the more he is inclined to accept this theory which gets over the difficulty of assuming that the Irish obtained their classical learning from Britain where as Zimmer has shown there was no t any classical learning wide and profound enough to produce 22 such results ; nor were the High Schools o f Gaul 23 for fifth a quiet place learning in the —century though Colgan would have u s believe we know — t t S . not o n what authority that S . Patrick sent Olc an to Gaul to study sacred and profane learning so that he might return to Ireland to establish ” 24 publicas scholas . There is nothing improbable in suppo sing that these rhetoricians should flee to Ireland for s afety just as refugee Christians fle d to the same island from the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian more St ’ 25 than a century before . Patrick s time Indeed

Ireland was well known to Roman geographers , though their ideas of its location were rather in accurate Tacitus informs u s that Ireland is 26 s ituated between Spain and Britain , a conception which points to direct communication with the Empire The same author further informs u s that

” m m er H Si ts u n s ber i ch te a d ef h n ! r eu ss . Aka d em e Zi . g g p i ,

1 0 . 62 Ci te d b t M e er Ku n o . i . 0 0, p 5 , y o c . . y , , p p 5 23 M e e r Ku n o b d . y , , i i 24 Co l a n u s Acta S a n cto m m H e g , b r n a I . . c ted b , , p 3 75 , y ’ ' i i X ’ i Ha u r e a u B . Sm u l a r i tzés H s to r u es et L i tter a zr es 2 , , g i iq , p p . , 3 . 25 P o wer P a tr ck L ves o SS . D ecl a n a n d M o ch u d a , i , i f , 1 p . x x . 2 5 Ta c tu s A r col a Ch a ter I i , g i , p XX V .

1 7 41 . c . 2 2 THE EARLY I RI SH MONASTI C SCH O OLS the harbours of Ireland were well known to mer ” As chants through trade and commerce . the

r f . researches of M . George Co fey and Mrs Greene have shown , intercourse and commerce between Ireland and Gaul had been constant and regular for h 28 centuries before the fift . There were even Gallic mercenaries in the service of Irish kings 29 during the early centuries of our era . More fi u re s over , Irishmen at this time were familiar g on the Continent . Amongst these may be mentioned "0 M tus ansue 0 A. D . , Bishop of Toul about 35 There be Sedulius i an can little doubt that , the great Chr sti “ C rmen P e e a as cal an r . po t , author of , was I ishman Sedulius Sedulius to , sometimes called the Elder ( distinguish him from another Sedulius who was at Co mpo stello in the eighth century and still another

Sedulius the flourished who was at Liege in ninth) , — i‘2 2 0 A. D between 4 3 45 . His work treating of the chief events recorded in the Old and New Testa ment was the first Chris tian Epic worthy of the

27 I bid . m See Cofl e y , ec r e Ar ch e ol o ca l E v d e n ce o r G , g i i , th e I ter co u r s e o G a ul w th I f i n l a n d befo r e th e Fir s t Cen tury?in P r o ce edi 1 ‘ n . o/ th e Ro al I r s h Aca d e m 1 1 0 _ y i 9 , P 6 l 06 G r een e A i c e Tf a S . d , , e Ro u te: o f I r el zn d i n hi; ?Id I r i s h Wo rld — . 6 , p p 3 00.

' ” e er Ku n o r y , , A t c le , G a ul: I r ela n d i n E n u IV h i , p . 2 og l Wa rr en L , J . B tur gy a n d R tua l o th e Cel ti c ( 711 11 7 6 11 i i / , p gs ’ 31 Hea l oh n I r l d y , , e an s An c e n t S ch o ol s a n d Sch ol a rs — i , . 2 p p 0 ar ren . B . o . a t . 30 , J , p p . 3 5 . Hea l ohn o . ci t . 2 y , J , p p . 3 . CLAS SICAL LEARNI NG 2 3

53 “ Dr Si erson s name . . g by a scholarly analysi of the verse structure traces the influence of the Irish school of prosody referred to in the previous Sedulius chapter . Though wrote in Latin and o f s followed the classical forms verse , yet he infu ed o f into them certain characteristics Irish poetry , such —as systematic alliteration , assonance and rhyme qualities that reveal the Gael . Ireland is also credited with the doubtful honour of having given birth to Pelagius and his associate 5 Caele stius f’ Both flo urishe d in the beginning of fift the h century . Zimmer contended that Pelagius 36 wa s an Irishman , but Healy shows that he was a ”7 British monk o f Irish origin s Healy also endeavours to prove that the assumption that Caelestius was an Irishman is based o n a miscon 38 ’ ce tio n p . Against this view we must place Meyer s

Opinion . The latter asserts that whether Pelagius

was an Irishman or not his faithful henchman , Caelestius , he of the plausible tongue , certainly ” 39 was . The weight of evidence seems to point to no t bo th o f the conclusion that one or other , if , these heresiarchs was Irish or at least of Iris h

descent .

33 Si g er s on eo r e B a r ds o tke a el a n d G a ll , G g , f G , p . 4 5 . 34 Si er so n eo r i t — e o . c . . 8 g , G g , p p p 4 5 4 . 35 H e a l h n 5 i o 0 . c t . y , . wh er e St . er om e i s te d , 3 c . J p 39 , J i 36 M e er Ku n o L ea r n n i n I r el a n d y , , i g , p . 8 . 37 H ea l n i h o . c t . o . 0 y , J , p p 4 . 38 H ea l o h n o . ci t . 1 y , J , p p . 4 . 39 M e er K y , u n o o ) . ci t n a l so a r , z W r en F . E t u r gy a n d R tu a l o tlze Cel t c Céu r ck f . i i , p 3 5 . TH E M N TI 2 4. EARLY IRISH O AS C SCHOOLS Enough was written to show that some Irish families at least were in reach of a classical literary education and were prompt to grasp it even before 40 the middle of the fifth century . Hence we can not attribute the introduction of classical learning

to St . Patrick as has been so often asserted . Nor o f can we attribute to St . Patrick the introduction

Christianity itself . According to Zimmer there were mis sionaries at work in the third century in the “1 l southern part of Ireland . It wou d seem , how s ever , that Zimmer makes too sweeping a tatement when he says that Ireland was a Christian land fifth M ac Caffer before the century ; for , as y has s s pointed out , the Iri h Hero Tale which were taken down about the beginning of the eighth century o f first represent the life the , second and third centuries and paint the social life as unaffected by 42 Christianity . That there were some Christians in Ireland before f t o S . an e the time Patrick there c be no doubt . B de d n distinctly states that Palla i s , the predecessor of t S . s Patrick , was ent by Pope Celestine to the Irish who believed in Christ a d Sco ttos in Chris tum " 43 Cre dentes . Here it should be pointed out that

“ Ar t cle I r el a n d i n th e Ca th ol c E n c cl o e d a VI I I i , i y p i , . , 1 p . 1 7 . 41 i 0 . c t . VI I I p . , p . 1 1 6 . 42 M a c Ca fi r e a m es Ar t cle Ro m e a n d I r el a n d : P r e y , J , i , P a tn ci a n Ckr i s tza n i t 1 n I r sh Th eol o cal u a r ter l I y , i g i Q y , . . P 53 43 B a e da H s tor c E ccl es i a s ti cw G m ti s An l o m m L be r I , i i g , i a 1 C p . 3 . CLASSICAL LEARNING 2 5 the word Scoti or S cotti wherever it occurs in writ I ris k ings prior to the tenth century means the , and o f M the Irish alone , the inhabitants Scotia ajor

(Ireland) . Later the term was extended to include the Irish colony in North Britain (Scotia Minor) . Eventually the name was still further extended to include the inhabitants of the whole country now “ called Scotland . It has been necessary to go into some detail in order to refute a popular fallacy that it was due to

the labours of St . Patrick that Ireland owes the introduction of Christianity as Well as the beginnings

of classical learning . However , as Professor Bury s of points out , the fact that the foundation Christianity had been laid sporadically in certain ’ o f t parts Ireland does not deprive S . Patrick s s i nificance He mi sion of its eminent s g . did three things : he organised the Christianity Which already existed he converted many districts which

were still pagan , especially in the West he brought Ireland into connection With the Church of the Empire and made it formally a part o f universal 45 s h s Chri tendom . While as a been shown he did influence not introduce classical learning , his indirect

must have been considerable . The very fact that Latin was the ecclesiastical language of the new

44 F or a discu ssion o f th e a n ci en t u se o f th e wo r d s Sco tia ’ a n d S co t s ee Sken e s Cel tzc S co tl a n d I I n r d u c n . t o t o , , i , p . 9 . 45 Bu r L e — . B . o St . P a tr ck y . 2 1 2 2 1 . , J , if f i , p p 3 2 6 THE EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C SCH O OLS

religion gave it an importa nce and a di gn ity . t Besides S . Patrick and his fellow workers would naturally help to diffuse a knowledge of e c cle si astical Latin at least in every part of the island ‘6 which Christianity reached , but it must be remem bered that Ireland was not a completely Christian ” a i land even at his death . Pag nism still l ngered in many parts and its influence can be traced in the 48 ves early native literature , and even in the early Li ” of the Irish Saints . To complete the work which he did so much to promote as well as to supply the i s spiritual wants of the converted , a native m ni try was essential . In order to equip such a ministry

Christian schools had to be established . Unable to give proper attention to the instruction of these

s St . ut ecclesiastical student , Patrick after abo ’ twenty years peripatetic teaching established

c . 0 A . D . t 4 5 a school at Armagh of which S . Benin Beni nus or g was given charge . The primary aim of this school was to train subjects for the priest “ hood . A knowledge of Latin and perhaps Greek were acquired . To supply the various churches with books there was a special house in which £51 students were employed as scribes .

46 Bu r i t y . B . 0 3. c . 2 , J , 3 p . 1 7 . ‘7 o e c P . W . 0 . t i l . I 2 y , , . p . 3 3 . 3 d e Do u la s 2i ter a r h i s to r o I el a d — y , , y r n . 2 2 1 g y f , p p 43 5 ‘9 P lu m m e t , Ca ro lu s V ta e Sa n cto m m H bern a I — , i i i , ntro 1 2 1 88 I , 9 . 50 H d e — Dou las o . ci t . ) 1 1 y , , f l 51 De i l ’ u ba n v lle . d Ar bo g 11 537 4 135: Celti 1 w . J , J , q , I . , 37

2 8 THE EARLY I R I SH MONASTI C s ca o o r s IRISH SCHOOLS IN THE FI FTH CENTURY

SCHOOL DATE LOCATI ON FOUNDER d “ o . k d . 4 C Lon for St . a r c 65 g P t i , “ A . D . a nd St . M l e d A . D . 488 . W Wa t r for " S " m Co . d De lan e t . c 4 5 — D “ o “ “ C . Arm a h S . a 0 5 A . . g t P trick ‘ c ‘ “ ra l . ante Co . ( i way St Enda 4 D “ 48 A. . “ We f rd “0 S ‘ ‘ 4 Co . x b o t . I h a t 4 A D ‘ b c . 50 . Co L u h SS. . o t tr . Pa ick and Dach onn a “0 7 ° Co T r r " N e St . Ailb . ipp a y e ‘ R mm o n ‘ c S . A i 0 b Co . osco t s c us d . 47 , “ A . D . D ” 87 A . . o . S . c . 4 l 25 C d are S r d d . 5 Ki B igi , “ A . D . and Co n la e h t , d . 4 1 9 A . D . 1 “ D “ W W h c . 4 54 A C Lo u St M . o h . o Lo u t . t ch ta 1 “ D “ b W . Co . D wn S . l n n c 4 A . M Ne d rum 50 . o t Cae a o r och s i " 0 — o (1 . 497 9 m " W " 4 n tr m S . Ra th Muigh e b Co . A i t Pa trick m 1 “ m " 4 C . D wn S Sa u l o o t . Pa trick “ t n u M a N o " 4 . t Sla ne Co e th St . Pa rick m “ ’ "l Se r b n s St . Ci aran th e i Ki g , Eld er “ 4 m " m “ 0 M h S . Trim b Co . eat t Pa tri ck

For a di scuss o n o f th e ch r o no lo of SS . Declan I bar Atlbe and i gy , ,

C ara n th e Eld e r see Po w er Re v . P a tri c k L ves o SS . Decla n i , , , i f a n d M ocu da . p r t 540 5 I r s h Sa n ts and M a rs . Con l Co n n h am D . a . . n ha m y g , , i i y p y g ' l ' of r s r e lies m ai nly on Wa ta Ha rris s ed . Wa e M onas ti con ' t c H s t r o I r l H ibam i ac an d Lani an s E ccles as al o e a nd . l h g i i i y f . ' P tri k s ea th Con h St . a c d see n U kn l o . m D n o wn . a . P . y g . . , ’ 1 1 i t . . 7 i 2 t M ll s o . c t. S . e . of . c p . ; p p

’

Fo r th e v a r o us d a t es a ssi ned to St . Pa tr ck s dm th see H ea l i g i , y i ck 5 - o t P a tr . 63 7 . B r h n . L e Wri t s o S u i a nd n B . o j f i g f , pp y , p . D h ci t. 206 la c es h is d ea th as ea rl a s 46 1 A . . w ile t h e mm) y , : of the ow I 1 54 -6 i ve th e trad iti onal d a te a s ts " . . ( 93 ar A. D , , pp g . Moam wh o m a re melined to accep t one o! th e w hat da tes as th e or e l m proba b e . CLASS I CAL LEARNI NG 2 9

This list does not claim to be complete . The abo ve dates agree with those given by the most s careful authorities . The four saints who e names are marked are usually called the pre - Patrician ffi lt di cu . Saints . Their chronology is very Some authorities place them as early as the fourth s century and some a late as the sixth .

2 a . Co n n h am D P o kn . i t 1 2 U 2 P w r P c . . 5 4 b . n own . 0. o e . y g . p . p . , o ci t xi x —x x p . . p p . ii . ’

3 a an d 3b . H ea l h n I r ela a nt a n hola r 1 1 4 ves o nd s S s d Sc s . y , J ; i , p gi 4 55 A . D . as th e d a te o f o u nd a t on th e Fo u r M a ster s i v e f i , g 5 y 4 7 A . D . I 1 42 B u l h u n a t r B . a ces t e d a te o f o d o n , p . . , J . , p f i as e ar l a i t . 1 54 3 0 See No te 1 a b o v e s 444 A . D . o . 0 y p c . p . . . . 4 3 4 b an 4 d c . Co n n h a m D P i t 2 s o 8 . S e a l H ea l o . c . 1 e , , y g , . p . p y . oh n fo r o u t f h h l o f E n a i t a n a n o S . cc t e Sc o o t . d . o c . J , p 5 n a a d 5b . Co n n h a m D i t t P o c . . 538 . 5 0 . See No e 1 0 ab ov e . y g , . . , p . p 6a 6b an d 60. Fo r th s an d o th er m o n a ster es s ee Ar t cle b R ev , i i i y ( . ) Lau r ence P M u r r a M . y , o n a s ter es o Cou n t L ou th i n th e i f — y , L ou th ou r a l o r ha e l 2 2 n A c o o I . 36 . j f gy , , pp ’ 7 Se a . H e l e a a o n i t nkn own . s cc u t o f h l o 7 b . t s s ch o o . c . U y i , p ’ 7c . Th e An n als o Ulster u r r i e th f , s b an n o 526 eco d St . A lbe s d a , bu t e N 2 s e ote 0 a b ove . 8a 8b a n d 8 H ea l h n o i t 0. o c 1 1 . , , y h j , p . . 6 9 a 9b and 9 H 0. eal h n 1 32 v 5 27 A D . as th e o o ci t. . es . , , y , J , p . p , gi d at e o f d at on h u D ou n T e h cottor m v es 1 A . f i . C r on icon S gi 5 0 . ; b ut th s i s e d e tl o o r 2 D v n t la St B d d e d i n 5 5 A . te a s . i i y , igi i ’ acco r d in g t o th e Ch r o n o lo gy i n Miss H u ll s E a rly Chr isti a n I r l e a nd n tr o d u ct o r a Co n leth ed i n 5 1 A D . 9 . es . St . d , i y p g i Con n h a D m . P . o i t a a h r a s th e . c 1 33 Th e s m e u t o l ce y g , , p . p . . p d ate o f h er b r th a t 5 D o i t i s a r t o a ssu m e th at th e i 4 3 A . s f i d a te f th e o u n o a D . a n n t 4 67 A . D . f d tion o f th is s ch o ol i s 4 87 A . d o 1 0a 1 0b 1 0 M 0. u rr a , , y , L . P . b d . , i i 1 1 a and l l b . R eev as Wm E ccles a s t ca l A n t u t es o D own , i i iq i i f , Conn or d D r o m a n or v o i t 1 38 . Wm . . c . . e 1 0 1 1 0. R ee es , , p . ; , , p p 1 2a 1 2 b a nd 1 2 0. Fo u n d b S P a ck a c co r d i n t o th e t ra d ed t . tr i , , y g i t o n a cce ted b Con n h t 5 40 a n d o th ers b u t am ci . . i p y y g , p , , m o r e r ob a bl ll D e e at a lat a Co m a d 601 A . S er d t e b St . . . p y y g , ’ R e eves E cc A n t . . . 70. iq , p ' 1 3a 1 3b an d 1 30 C n n t , , . o y h a m D . P o m . . 540. g , p p l 4 a 1 4h an d 1 4 0 5 39 . , , . p . 1 5 a 1 sh an d 1 5 0 5 3 . , , . p . 8 1 6a l 6b an d 1 60 5 . 39 . , , p . CHAPTER I I I

IRISH M ONASTI CI SM

AS the organization of the Irish monastic schools was so intimately connected with the Irish monastic system it is impo ssible to form a clear idea of the r character , aims , cu riculum , or the scope of scholar ship of these schools without some reference to Irish monasticism and its relation to other types of monasticism Monasticism in general is a system of living that owes its origin to those tendencies of human nature which are summed up in the words mysticism and de fined asceticism . Mysticism may be as the efio rt s to give efiect to the craving for union with D s s as the the iety even in this life ; and a cetici m , effort to give effect to the hankering after an ever urification the s u and an n progressive p of o l , ato ing for sin by the renunciation and self- denial of things 1 ar be lawful . These two tendencies would appe to a se not inseparable from hum nity , becau though

l r i M i u tl r A t c n as t c sm . C . B e le o on s gn ed E . O (E ) i ' i i n h E c o e i t c I I t e n cl d a B r ta m a . 68 . y p i , XVI " p 7 IRISH M ONASTI CI SM 3 1

i always called into activ ty , they are always liable to in be invoked , and all ages and among all peoples 2 ne they have frequently asserted themselves . In o form o r another monasticism had appealed to people ofvarious countries long before it became associated with Christianity . In the early years of Christianity

‘ definite monasticism took a shape in Syria , Egypt and Armenia . From Egypt and Syria it was brought to Rome about the middle of the fourth s century by Athanasiu , the great champion of the D ivinity of Christ by Honorius , the founder of the island monastery of Lerins and by Cassian whose ” Institutes were a kind o f manual for all the ? earlier monasterie s of the West As to the origin of Irish Monasticism opinions are divided : some have as cribed it to an Eastern i s origin , while others n ist that it can be directly traced to Gaul . The most commonly accepted “ f r view is that o M . Willis Bund which ascribes to s it a purely indigenous development . As uch general statements are at best but partly true and utterly fail to give an adequate idea o f the char acteristics o f Irish monasticism we propose to examine the subject in the light derived from such native sources of information as

2 I bid . ’ 3 He a l oh n I r el a n d s An c en t Sch ool s a n d Sch o l a r s y , J , i , P 93

’ 4 B u n d W i lli s Ce t1 c Ch u r ch i n a l s 1 b l W e 8 c te d G . , , , 9 7 , i y P H u . d d l e s to n i n Ar ti cl e o n I r ish M o n a s ticis m i n th e Ca th ol c E n c l o red i a i y p X . p . 4 73 . 32 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C s cn o o r s

Th “ 1 . e Irish Monastic Rules , 6

2 . ai The Lives of the Early Irish S nts ,

3 . Ecclesiastical History , and

4 . Social and Political History .

From the first and second sources we shall learn s much about the spirit of mona tic life , its ideals , obligations , and daily routine . From the third and two fourth sources , and incidentally from the other , we learn much about the relation which existed between the monastery and the community in which it was located . An so as examination of Irish Monastic Rules , far us they have come down to , reveals the fact that they no t are identical with any Eastern or Western Code . In the general severity of their regulations they are o n s s found , compari on , to re emble the former rather as than the latter . It w doubtless this austerity that caused the Irish Rules to give way eventually t ’ before the milder Rule of S . Benedict . It is a possible , however , that the ideas and liter ture of Gallic and Egyptian monasticism may have in flue nced to some extent the development of Iris h B mo na sticism . Whether Irish monasticis m was of native origin or not there can be little doubt that British mon a stic ism exercis ed a very potent and direct influence

5 — Se e B bl o r a h S o u r cn Ru l cs . i i g p y , 5 See B bl o r a h L v es o I r s h Sa n ts . i i g p y , i f i i ' ? Wa r re t tu a l o £11 0 Cams n F B . Th e L u r a n d R f , — , i g y i Cku r ck p 4 5 5 . 8 Ca tho lfi l o i i n c c a d a o . t . y fi , f c I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 33

on its development . In an Irish document which is s m generally accepted as hi torical , we are infor ed 9 that there were Three Orders of Saints . The — f 0 A . D . o First Order flourished 0 . 44 534 Many

the saints in this Order lived in the time of St . s Patrick . They were all bishop and founders of churches Their number was 350 and included

Britons , Romans , Franks and Scots . The Second — f s D . o Order (534 572 A . ) was made up few bi hops and many priests : they numbered 300 . Unlike the First Order these refused the services o f women separating them from their monasteries . They D Gillas s SS . received a Mas from avid , , and D cus s of o the Britons . The Third Order consi ted s m f holy priests and a few bi hops . The nu ber o thi s Order was 1 00 ; they dwelt in desert places . living mainly o n herbs and water ; they depended upon alms and possessed no private property . The Second Order interests u s es pecially as in all probability the monasteries owe their origin to it s t . members . Whether S Patrick actually founded

s s is mona terie uncertain . We know that he spent s Lerins o f ome years at , the island monastery the of Mediterranean , but his life was too full missionary labours to have time for the foundation and govern 1 0 of s ment mona teries . In strong contrast with

9 Ca ta l o u e SS . H ber n a? S ecu n d u m D v er s e Te m or a g i i i fi , u bli sh e d i n To d d L — W . H e o i . P a tr ck . S 88 8 . p , , if f i , p p . 9 1 0 B u r B . o . i t y . c . . r e . e a l . i t H h n o c . , J o . , p p 39 g y , J , p p 93 . (D498) D TH E R S M AST C 34. EARLY I I H ON I SCH OOLS

s the First Order who were mainly foreigner , the

of Second Order Saints were all natives of Ireland .

influ enc e o f However , they came under the British

s monasticism in two ways . We have een above that three British or Wel sh saints visited Ireland during this period , and indeed so did several 1 1 s other . Of equal importance is the fact that s s everal Irish aints visited Britain about this time . In South Wales there were two centres of attrae

Ll n ar n t d c en vi a c vo S . Ca o M e a tion , under and 1 2 t n D . St Fi ni n S . f . a o under avid Clonard , the ” f f r o o St . tutor the Saints E in , was a pupil of

Cado c Llan carvo n a s s t Cainne ch a S . M aedo w . c at , ’ D M o do mno c wa s of St . a pupil avid s , as were and

Scuithin Finnian , while we hear of of Clonard , “ Th D Bairr e . e eclan , and Senan as visitors there saints of the North o f Ireland tended to gravitate towards a monas tery in the territory of the Niduari

s Picts , sometime called Strathclyde , in the South l west of Scotland . This monastery was ca led Whitem (Ro snat in Irish sources) Among the

s s Whitem SS . Iri h saints who vi ited are Enda , Ti herna ch Eo han s Finnian g , g of Ard traw and of “ Moville .

1 1 P l u m m e r Ch a r le s V ta e Sa n cto m m H be r n a . . , , i i i , p cxxiv 1 2 i . t . c v Plu m m e r Ch a r le s o c . . , , p p xx 1 3 I bid . 1 4 t i . P lu m m e t Ch a r le s o . c I . . . , , p , p cxxvi

36 TH E EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

is si nificant imagination of the early chronicler , it g that Reeves in his investigations was able to compile s o f s 0 b a li t at lea t 9 monasteries founded y , or f s s . O dedicated to , thi aint this number 37 were 2 oi located in Ireland , 3 amongst the Scots ( Alba) 2 1 s and among t the Picts , 53 in the country 20 no w called Scotland . It was mainly through the efio rts o f thes e saints that Ireland was completely 21 converted to the Christian faith . It would appear ’ t s that after S . Patrick death the druids recovered some o f their former influence and exerted them s elves to the utmost to retard and limit the spread 22 of the new faith Thanks to the zeal and energy o f the s aints o f this Second Order the influence of s was the druid completely broken down , though the druids s till lingered o n obscurely and feebly many 23 generations . When monasticis m became general in the sixth

s no t s century mo t , if all , of those eccle iastical seminaries which we have listed as being founded fifth in the century , became monastic schools . Some of them such as the School of Armagh attained a high degree o f excellence ranking with

Clonard , Bangor , and the other great schools

which date from the sixth century . We give a list

’ 0 Ree ves m Ad W . a m , a d a s L e o St . Col u m ba 2 , if f , pp . 76 2 9 3 21 He a l h n o . i t . o c . 6 1 y , J , f p . 22 o ce P . o W . . i t c . I y , , . . 2 1 . J p , p 3 23 0 . i t c . I . 2 p , 3 3 . I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 37 of the better - known monastic schools which were founded during the sixth and seventh centuries , the AP TAL most famous being printed in C I S . These s chools were all established in Ireland by Irishmen , Who , as far as we have been able to discover , received their o wn education for the most part in schools already in existence in Ireland . This list makes no pretence to completeness . According to the calculations of Sir James Ware the number of famous schools in Ireland amounted to 25 Another writer gives the names o f 1 68 monasteries m D . nco founded prior to 900 A . Even this list is i l t Co . p e e . We have checked this latter list for Louth with one compiled by a recent reliable investi 26 gator with the result that 1 9 or 2 0 should be credited to C0 . Louth whereas there are only 2 o ut of 1 68 so c find the a credited . Similarly , we only t S . 4 monasteries ascribed to Columba while , as we

s have hown , Reeves found 37 monasteries in Ire land whose foundation is accredited to this energetic s A aint . s wehave reason to believe that all these monasteries had schools , we can easily see how abundant were the facilities for acquiring such an

s education as these school provided .

2 4 No la n Th o m a s I r sh U v er s t a d Cu l tu 1 n es n r e . 1 , , i i i i , p . 25 Con n h a m D L v o y , . P es I r s ]: Sa n ts a n d M a r tyrs —g i f i i , Pp . 537 544

’ 26 Mu r r a Rev . L . P Ar t c le i n L ou th Ar clzwol o zca l y , i g o u r n a l — I . J , , p p . 2 2 36 . 38 1 11 11 EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

MON ASTI C SCHOOLS FOUNDED IN I RELAN D BETWEEN

D . 500 AND 700 A .

DATE LOCATI ON FOUNDER

1 b 1 ° lk n n St . Can ce Co . e 528 Ki y i , 600 A D “ . .

BA GOR 9 A D " St o m N . Do wn . C all 55 . Co . 1 g , d. 60 “ 2 A . D . ’ " 1 ab “ rr St . rend 560A . D o . an of c . n s C Bi . Ki g B Birr 4 — 90 5 3 . D 7 A . Cleen i ‘ b ‘ 0 h n h St . Si nn l c 6th nt . 0 Ferm a a e ce C . g l h 1 . “0 5 ° C o er St . Ma c i n T rone t 0. Co . ar 506 g y , “ A . D . " “ CLO ARD 2 D M St . Finn ia n 4 N . c 5 0A . . C0 . ea th , 70 9 D “ 5 4 A . .

’ 7 ‘ 7 0 — Clo n a St . F n ta n 52 en h c 54 e n s Co . 5 592 . 8 u e g Q i , ‘ 0 A . D .

1 . — " 1 Clo nfer l St . rendan h e 553 D o . a wa t t 7 A . . C G y B N a viga to r 484

5 . D 77 A . “ Cork k St . F nnh ar 570 Co . Co r b i , “ 630 A . D .

' — “ xoo S a n 9 L NM t C ra d . 54 C O AC 8 o . 544 n s C . b Ki g i , NOI SE

1 Unkn o wn . 1 0. 00n n h am a . 1 b . y g ,

W . Shor i P . t H tor o D . P . . 2 1 14 . o c e s t 8 . 1 o ci . . 6 d 6 , p p J y . y f

I rela nd . 1 80 i ve s 5 1 7 , p , g ( 2 o ce 2 P lu m m t i t 11 1 1 1 111 . b . a . Ch a r l o c . I . e es . , , p , p y , Rev elti us XXX i e 2 2c . ue c 8 . Co n s H s tor o I reland . i y f , p q , , 1 1 3 . p .

3a 3 b 3 P lum m r t I 11 111 . 0. e C o ci , , , p ,

4 t 4 1 . 4 . . 5 a b 4 Co n n h m D . ci 0. a . P o , , y g , p p t 32 5 . o ci . 1 5 a 54 1 . 0 . . . i . Co n t. 5 . m b n h a D . P o . c , y g , p p p p 2 9 . 6 6b t o [V. . a 60 . o e P n . H s . W . o c . C , , J y , , i f , p ’ 7 a 7 nc ent Schools a n d Scho la rs b 7 0 . l r A , , Hea y , o h n I ela nd s . J , i

4 4 I 111 1 1 i ves 603 A . O . as th e . i t . 0 b u t P lu m m e t C o . c p , , p , , g ' d te o f St Fi n a . t an s d ea t h .

8 a I x . 811 80. Plu m r i t i m e C o . c . , , , . , p , x v m 9 3 9 1 o I n . 92 Con n ha b 90. ce £1 1 1 . o P . W 01 1 . . C ; . . J y , , f , p y g , D P . . o ci t 32 . , p . . p . 9 Ch r oni cles i ve no d ate 1 0a Plu mm er i 1 0h . t x . C o . ci . I . l . , , p . , p v g , ' '

1 d o I rela nd I 7 1 . b1 . 1 0 D lto n on H s . 0. a Can t , , i f . , I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM

SCHOOLS DATE L OCATI ON FOUNDE R

1 1 1 A D “ b al 1 1 0 I a Clu ain fo is 0. 500 . . Co . G wa St . rla ith c ?5 1 0 y ,

A D ‘ l l d . . 1 “ “ b h 1 2 0 M D n sh 530 A . D 0 Ferm ana St . ola i se d eve . C . . 563 i g , “ d 7 1 A . D .

4 — D 1 3 h rr 1 3 ° 5 5 6 A o . De St . ol . C C umba 52 . 0 y , D “ d 597 A . . m 1 “ D “ b n 1 4 0 “ 0 Dro o re c 5 A . . Co . Dow St . Colm an . 00

’ “ b 1 5 ° l St . Co um b 2 A D n s Co . 0 553 . . a 5 Ki g , 9 A D ” d 5 7 . . 1 1 1 1 m bl 1 6 0 t M b l o u in S . o d D . asnev n C . G i i , A D 1 6 d . . ” kl 0 n w S . W c o t ev ( I . 6 1 Co . 8 i K i , 22 A D 1 7d . .

1 “ F rm an a h 1 8 0 Ni nn i St . dh d o s Co . e . t g , p 530 1 8 1

M um 2 550 C0 . eath St . Col b a , 5 0 D “ d 595 A . . lk n n 2 0° an 2 — St . C ce 5 600 Co . e 8 Ki y i , D 2 0d A . . ‘ LI H a m » r f r m r h “ 4 SMORE 635 C0 . Wat e o d St . Ca r t a ch

M N - m B i O ASTER c . 500 Co . Lo u th St . u te , c . 52 1 13 1 11 D 2 2 d 0 0 A . .

l h i t 1 . 1 H ea n o . c 60 1 . 1 a l l b 1 0. o . , , y , J , p p t lx 2 m m t i I . i 1 a 1 2b 1 2 0 P l e C o . c . . , , . u , p , p x v 1 3 3 3 H u ll Elean r E a r l Chr st a n I r el Ch r onolo ca l a l b 1 0. o and , , , , y i i , gi i t I 2 T l alt n Ca n o n o . c . . ab e D o . 6 ; , , p , p le a st ca l t u t es 3 1 v . E cc n R e es Wm s A . 1 8 . 4 a M b 1 4 0. e , , , , i i iq i i , p m ’ l R ee ves m . Ad a n a n ta Co u mba e 2 1 5b 0. V 1 5 W s . 76 , , , i , p E 0 1 4 a rr en F . o 5? . 1 5 . W , , p . pp ,

1 6a 1 6 r F B i t 5 . 6b a r e . o c 4 1 1 0. n . . . . 1 , , W , , p p p , 1 3 1 P l m t i t x x i e 7 7h 1 7 0 . u m e C . o . c . I . x o c P . W . , , , , p , p ii J y , , t l 92 Con c se H s or o I r e a n d . . i i y f , p

1 8a 1 1 a rr e F E i t C n n h am D . P 8b 80. n . o c . . 1 4 1 5 o , , W , p . p p , y g , o t 4 ci . 5 1 p . p . . 1 9 a 1 m a m a 2 . 9b 1 9 0. R eev es W Ad n n . 76 , , , , p 2 0a 2 2 i t I lx x o e P W . o . c . 0b 0 Plu m m et C o ci t. c 0. . . i x . , , , p , p J y , , p

9 2 . p . 2 1 a 2 1 b 2 1 e P t D lt o n o i t I . 74 . o i 1 a . c . 0. c . o . c . . 8 , , J y , W p p , p , p 22 a 22b 22 M li r R M o a ter S . i e a ch ot o n s 0 a ca ste A . M u r d Abb , , . , . , , f bo ce I r r r nt od u cti on Mu a L P o ci t. i . , y , . p. 40 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

DATE LOCATION FOUNDER

m: " 0 Co lm an “ 4 Ma o St . 665 Co . y “ b “ ° - Down 54 0 55 Co . m . 55 Nessan d . L m er ck St . Co . i i ,

m Fa h n " 0 o Co rk St . c t a 6th C .

" 0 l m ba Dubl n St . Co u 520 Co . i , 595

“ 0 m Se nan “ 4 lar e St . 537 Co . G Scattery c .

m “ t Colm an o f o T e r ar S . Terryglas s 634 b C . ipp y Terry glas s “ 4 " t “ 0 W . l i lwa St I ar a th c . o . a Tu am C G y , 4 A D ” 0 5 5 . .

EDUCATI ONAL S IGNI FI CANCE O F TH E O RGANI ZA

TI O N O F TH E I RI S H C H URC H . From what has been said about the spread of monasticism in Ireland in the sixth century it is evident that the whole organi zation of the Church o n s in Ireland was being placed a mona tic basis . The importance o f this type of organization from an educational standpoint will be evident when we recall the actual condition of society at this par

23a 23b 230 , , . Chr on con 5 001101 11 111 . 1 04 Co n n h m D a . P . i , p ; y g , , o i . c t . . 5 3 p p 4 . 24 a 24 b , , 24 0. R eev es Wm Eccles a st cal Ant u ti es , i i iq i , 25 a 25 b 250 P s , , . o ce . Con c s e H t . 0 1 1 210 J y , W i i ] 26a 26 26 7 , 0 . o yce P . W . 101 11 Co n n h a m J , , 4 y g ,

p . 241 27 a 27 b 270. Ree v e Wm A mn a n 2 , s da 79 . , , , p . 28 a 28b 2 80 . o W t c e P . . o . ci . . 1 , 8 . , J y , , p p 392 39h 39 0. a rr F , , en . B . o . ci t. . 1 4 1 5 Co n n h m a D . P W , , p pp , y g , . ,

. 4 p 5 2 . H ea h n 1 o i . . o . c t 60. 30 . D y , , p p h ate of th e tound a fi on 0 l J

i s u ncerta n . Co n h n P . i am D . t o . ci . . 543 st a tes th a t i t y g , , p p w as ound ed i n th e F1 f tur f th Cen y . I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 4 1

ticular period . Closely related to the monastic character of the Irish Church was its miss ionary influence of character . How far reaching the the

Irish Monastic Church was , can be judged from a brief survey of the distribution o f Irish monasteries of 1 2 2 in Britain and o n the Continent . A list s monasteries founded by Irish monk in Scotland , in England and on the Continent was collected by Colgan in a lost work of which the index has been 27 s preserved and printed . Another writer has hown 1 1 s that Ireland sent 5 mi sionaries into Germany , 6 4 5 into France , 44 into England , 3 into Belgium , 28 2 i 5 into Scotland and 1 3 into Italy . Accord ng to of o f Columbanu s the testimony Jonas , biographer , about 62 0 missionaries went into Bavaria from s of Luxeuil , the headquarter the missionary work Columbanus of . No doubt , some of these were

of ‘ natives Gaul , but there must have been many s s Iri h among t them . Miss Stokes gives the names of 63 mis s ionaries who in the seventh century spread 29 f the Columban Rule from Luxeuil . In the light o thes e facts we see how just is the judgment o f s Green , the Engli h historian , when he declared that as the Irish Church overflowe d its own terri to rial limits and invaded the Continent of Europe , it wa s for a time doubtful whether the monastic

27 I n P r o ce ed n s o tk e R o a l I r sh Aca d em I 1 06 i g f y i y, V . , p .

s e . c te i t i d b a r r en F o . c . 6 q . B . . 1 . y W , , p p 28 h te A o l o a i 2 d b o l a n P o . c t . 1 . . c te N . . 8 W i , p g i , p 4 i y , , p p 29 Stokes M ar a r e t Th r ee M o n tlzs i n th e F o r es ts o F r a n ce , g , f , 2 - p 54 5 . TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS ' ideal of Christendom would come from a Celtic or u re re from an Italian source , whether it wo ld be p o f sented by the Rules SS . Columba and Colum

St . banus , or that of

I M P O SS I BI LITY O F CO M PI LING A CO M PLETE LI ST O F M O NASTI C SCHOOLS AND SC H OLARS

The number o f monastic schools and scholars given in the preceding section though at first sight

u - s somewhat startling is really an nder e timate . This assertion is based o n the following considera tions

1 . The desire which prevailed in the early cen tut ies o f Christianity to imitate even the accidental features o f the Apostolic s ystem naturally sug gested the adoption of the number twelve in the h nd adjustment of miss ionary societies . Thus we it recorded that in Clonard the Twelve Apostles ” St of Erin were educated . . Columba set out

D . twelve about 562 A. with companions to convert l n wel St . Co um u s t ve the Picts . ba with brethren left Ireland about 6 1 2 to undertake his great K St . missionary work on the Continent . illian wa s the chief o f a company of twelve who founded l us t . E o ui i Wii rzbur . S a monastic nstitution in g q , St twelve s disciple of Fursa , with companions who e names are preserved , propagated the Gospel in

30 r een R Tir M a l a — . k o E n 2 8 . e n . G , I i g f ng d, p p 77

44 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

Tuathal Tutilo Do mnall Do nal D a as , or as on tus , Aad Sia dhal SeduIi US as Aidan and Hugh , as , Galla c h sometimes became Gall , while others chose to remain anonymous or describe themselves Exul Hi e rnicus c ttus b S o . vaguely as , or , or In s in the Continental librarie there are many M SS . Irish script and the scribes have concealed their “ identity in the vague manner just described .

4 . Naturally there were many others whose work i was teaching rather than writ ng , consequently s there is no record in such case . Columba and Columbanu s were lucky in having biographers but many others were less fortunate .

G EOGRAPH I CAL DI STRI BUTI ON O F I RI SH M O NASTI C SCH OOLS

We give a partial list of the better - known mon astic institutions which were at one and the same time advance posts of civili zation and centres of s Chri tian learning . Many of these date from that s the great period of Irish mis ionary activity , seventh century .

SCOTLAND

Almo st the whole of the country now called Scotland was converted to Christianity by Irish s s i mi ionar es . With the foundation of the monas t r t a ter S . e 6 A. D . y of Iona in 5 3 by Columba , p

33 m m er I r sh E l e m en t i n M ed e val Cul tu r e . . H . Zi , , i i , p 49 I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 4 5 et undato r m onas terio rum f , began a period of

“ great monastic activity in Britain . Reeves found that 63 monasteries were founded by o r dedicated t o f 2 to S . Columba ; these 3 were in the territory occupied by the Scots and 2 1 were among the ”4 Picts s Other important monasteries were Deer f t t Dr stan s S . S . o o founded by , a di ciple Columba , t l M ua 2 A . D . s S . o Li more founded by g in 59 , and

- M nadh r Kilrim ont St Righ o o founded by . Canice t ’ near the place where S . Andrew s University is 35 s s now located . There were also numerou mall monasteries o n the islands round the Scottish 36 s n fi ent influence s coa t . The be e c exerci ed by these foundations as civilizing and educational agencies is acknowledged by modern Scottish 37 s s hi torian .

ENGLAN D

j ust a s Iona was the great headquarters of s fo r s mona tic activity Scotland , so Lindi farne s t S . 6 D founded by the Iri h Aidan in 35 A. . became the bas e o f operations fo r the Irish missionarie s in t o f s the Nor h England , e pecially in Northumbria . At this time Northumbria wa s an extens ive kingdom extending a s far s outh as the Humber and into

’ Re eve s Ad a m Wm . n a s n L e o Si . Co l u m ba 2 , , if f , p p . 76 2 9? 35 M o r a n P a tr ck I r sh S a n ts 111 r e a t B t , r a n s e . i , i i G i i , 77 q 36 E dm o n d s Co lu m , ba , Ar t cl e i n l or es o I r el a n d 2 1 i G i f , p . . 37 E s ec a ll Sken e H s t W . o 3 y , , r a n s 0 S co t!a " 2 VI p i i i f p ' 11 1 1 11 . Al so i n Cel t c S co tl a n d l l l i j . 46 1 11 11 EARLY 1 2 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

rno dern Scotland as far north as the Firth of Forth . To the influ ence of Aidan and other Irish monks we s trace the foundation of Lindi farne , Coldingham , M ailro s , Lastingham , in Northumbria , Ripon and Streanshalch now u ( Whitby) in Yorkshire , B rgh f t s M alm es S . Castle in Su folk , Bee in Lancashire , bury among the West Saxons , Bosham or Bosan ” s and s in barn in Sus ex , Gla tonbury of the Gael 38 s Somerset . In most histories the mi sionary work o f St . Augustine is grossly exaggerated and the important mi s sionary and educational work of the Irish monk s is either completely ignored or accorded an amount o f s pace utterly out o f proportion to its 59 irnportance f

I RI S H FO UNDATI O NS O N TH E CO NTIN ENT

Ne therla nds G ueldre s In Namur , Liege , , 40 Fosse , Haumont , Soignes , Fm uc e Remirm o nt Be s an on i In , Lure , g , Poit ers

f e ziere s - Bre zille . B ( , Romain Moutier , , t S . f. St . s Cusance , Ur anne , Fleury ( Riquier

f r e s f. ( . Joua re , Reuil , R bai ( Fare

t - - s n t - S . moutier , Maur les Fos e , Lag y , Mon tier la

- - Ca ubabe c Hau tvillie rs e n Der St . Celle , , , Moutier ,

33 tu r a n d R tu a l o th e Cel t c Ch ur ch W a r r en F . B . L y f , , , i g i i 1 p 4 . 39 Th e M a k n a E n ( a n d Se e h o weve r r e e n . R . , fi , , , G , I i ke Sto fo r d H s to r o n l zs h d e r a s . th e B r o o . 2 6 e , p y f g p 7 q , ' i

i n to th e No r m a n C011 u es t Ch a . I . tu r e m m th e B eg n m , p , ‘ tu l Ca m br e H s to r 0 E n l u t ar a r e , l ll l . a s o / g II . y , ; i g i

Ch a . . 1 p p p 3 .

i t . 1 6 . 40 c . W a r r en F . B . o . , , fi p I RI SH M ONASTI CI S M 4 7

Sala er a St . Fontenneles g g , Meaux , Saens , , s f f Jumiege , Stavelot ( . Corbie ( .

Ane r U EUI L f. g y , L X ( Fontaines , Ferrieres f f 6 r P erro n o tt . 0 o a Sc om m ( . Peronne ( 5 ) , s s Toul , Amboi e , Beaulieu , Stra bourg , in addition to the countles s and nameless H o spitalia S co tto rum alluded to in the Capitularies o f Charles the Bald 41

D . in 846 A .

G erm an and Switz erland : Ho henau In y g , Wii rzbur g , Memmingen , Erfurt , Freyburg , Schut Ettenh eimii nster Nurem tern , , Mentz , Cologne , Altomii nster s o r burg , , Rati bon Regensburg ,

ST. G f St . . V Constance , ALL ( Mont ictor 42 Bre ens f . Se ckin en g ( Reichenau , g . Ital : BO BBI O f In y ( . Taranto , Lucca , 45 z Faen a , Fiesole .

RELATI O N O F TH E I RI SH M O NASTI C CHURCH TO THE RO M AN CH URCH

The preceding s ection will enable us to under s influ ence tand what an important from a religious , a s well as from an educational , standpoint the Irish monastic system began to exercise throughout the s f We t o Europe . The relation which existed

41 E 1012 San d s H s to r o Cl a s s ca l a r r en F . W , . , ; y , i y f i i I l a d S ch o l a r s h I . 2 M e e r Ku n o L ea r n n n r e n ip, , p . 4 4 ; y , , i g , 1 p . 2 . 4 2 101 2 R o er o . a t . 00 a l so H a k a r r en , F . E , ; , 4 ; u , W ° g c t u ts ch l a fs s z k e D e n I . 2 2 s . A1b e r t ; K zr cken g e c , , p p . 8 eq 43 ke r a r e i x 0 . a t . . 1 6 Sto s M a t S a r r en F . E . 6 p , , , W , 1 — g s . M o n tlzs m Afifiem n e , p p . 96 9 7 48 TH E EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C SCH OOLS between the Irish Church and the Roman Church s has given rise to con iderable polemic discussion . Indeed there are so many points in common between s i the Iri h monastic church of the s xth , seventh , and eighth centuries and the British or Welsh church of the same period that both are often s poken of a s the Celtic Church in co ntr adis

tinction to the Roman Church . This distinction is “ bas ed not on any essential difference o f doctrine f s but on certain dif erence of ritual , liturgy , and s discipline . A we have shown the Irish monas tic system extended far beyond the territorial limits

occupied by the Celtic race . Hence when we refer to the Celtic Church we have in mind a widespread z organi ation rather than a locality , and we emphasiz e difference s o f custom and not essentials f f o dogm a . The di ferences that existed between the Roman Church and the Celtic Church with regard to the date of Eas ter and to the tonsure o f the monks gave rise to an important controversy in 45 the seventh century .

TH E CALCULATI ON O F EASTER

D Prior to the Council of Nice 3 2 5 A. . the date of Easter in the nascent Celtic Church harmonized r with that of the Roman Church . Owing , howeve ,

“ i t B o . c . W a rr en F . . p . 3 . , , p — 45 d a n i t . d o . c 6 a lso Ha d an W a rr e n F . B . . 6 , , p p p 3 ; ’ Stu bbs Cou n cil: a n d E ccl es ia s tical 5a cu m en ts of G r ea t I r a d B r ta n a n d el n I . . 1 2 . i i , , p 5 I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 49 to isolation the Celtic Church had never adopted the various alterations and improvements which o n — — astronomical not o n theological grounds had 46 r been accepted by the Continental Chu ch .

TH E TO NS URE CO NTROVERSY The Roman tonsure was formed by shaving the top of the head in a circle leaving a crown o f hair

it . s around The Eastern ton ure , sometimes called s s the Pauline ton ure , was total . The Celtic ton ure was formed by shaving all the hair in front of a line 47 s drawn from ear to ear . In the controver y of the seventh century the Roman party traced their form St f to . Peter and attributed that o their opponents 48 s s a b aur e a d to Simon Magu . The Iri h form , ’ 49 a r m u e St . , existed in Patrick s time and was 50 probably druidical in origin . s s o f The e two question , though in themselves s o f minor importance , gave ri e to a controversy ’ many years duration . Eventually the Roman

practice was adopted by the whole Celtic Church , not s but without a truggle , some localities clinging tenaciously to the traditional usage long after the o f general acceptance the Continental practice . s first The Southern Iri h were the to conform .

46 a r r en F 0 . t E ci . W , . . , 2 p . 3 . 47 Re eve s m o . i t . W . c , , p p . 3 50 . 48 B e d e E c t ’ , cl es a s ca l H s tor y o E n l an Boh u s E d ti on — i i i f g d, i , p p . 37 1 2 . 49 R e ev es m W o . ci t . , p p . 3 50 . 50 P lu m m e r Ch a r l es o . ci t 11 11 1 1 1 , , p . I . , p . 0 . ( I) 4QS) 50 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS Having received an admonition from Pope Honorius

D . they convened a Synod about 630 A . and as a result o f their deliberations decided to adopt the s f Roman u age . The North o Ireland held out influence d much longer , being by Iona and its 51 s dependent mona teries in Ireland . The dates at which the different parts of the Celtic Church con formed with the Roman practice in regard to the 52 celebration of Easter are given below . Possibly the coronal form of tonsure was adopted at the same

time .

52 E —DI TRI C AFFECTED BY TH E ‘ Y AR . S T CHANGE

D . . 630 A . South of Ireland

664 Northumbria converted by Irish mis

s io naries from Iona .

North of Ireland .

s D Ea t evon and Somerset , the Celts

under We s sex .

7 1 0 The Picts of Scotland . — 7 1 6 71 8 Iona .

- 2 1 s . 7 Strathclyde , the South we t of Scotland

768 North Wales .

777 South Wales .

Parts of Cornwall . — 51 i t 2 6 2 . He a ly o h n 0 . c . . 3 37 , J , 2 p p 52 Ca th o l c E n c cl o e d a . 0 . i y p i , p 4 4

5 2 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH O OLS years after the Synod of Whitby the Irish influence r was felt . A native ministry having been t ained 54 the Irish monks had accomplished their work . In o ne respect the Easter controversy had a good f e fect on learning . It led to a careful study of the comput and astronomy and created the neces sity of becoming familiar with all the classical and e c clesi astic al literature which was calculated to throw any n light o that vexed question . The consequence of

' this study was th at the Irish monks became the s s of greatest a tronomer the seventh , eighth and s is s ninth centurie . It enough to read the Pa chal f um r Epistle o C mian Fada (d . o the famous f D D . letter o ungal who in 8 1 0 A . was asked by Charle s the Great to explain the double eclipse of the s un which was supposed to have occurred in 56 s that year , to be convinced of the uperiority of

their scholarship .

O RGANI ZATI O N O F TH E I RI S H M ONASTERY ON A TRIBAL BASI S In marked contrast with the other Western churche s which were organized on a national and episcopal basi s the Irish Church was tribal and

s . monastic . Thi was quite natural The conver

53 B e d e E ccl es a s t ca l H s to r y 0 E n l a n d Bo ok I I I , i i i g ’ — 800k . 1 2 e d e ci t . Bo o k I I 2 6 2 8 I , . E d B , B oh n s . ; , V ’ — ml . 82 . 2 1 2 P lu m m e r s Ed t o n c te d by Ro er , 3 4 , 3 i i i g 54 Ro e r i . g , ib d

55 i . 2 6 2 . H ea ly o h n o c t . 3 , 37 , J , p p p

56 W ci t . I . . 60 . o yce P . , p 4 J , I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 53 sion of the Chieftain was followed by the conversion of the clansmen and a tribal character was thus 57 At given to the nascent church . an early date the Irish Church took a monastic form which accorded so well with the native social system . The abbot became chief of an ecclesiastical clan most of whose members were des cended from the s same common ance tor as the abbot himself . No wonder the native name fo r the monastic community ' 58 m uintir l arrn ia . was , usually translated f Even the s of — c o m b uccessor the abbot the , literally heir could often claim lineal descent from the same C i hieftain as the abbot whom he succeeded . O s cour e , as the abbot was unmarried , there could be s fir st no direct lineal succes ion from the abbot , but there wa s a succession in the manner indicated .

There was thus , a close resemblance between the succession of the abbot and that of the Chieftain . The succes sor of the Chieftain was not necess arily his son of , but a member the clan by whom he was selected o n account o f his personal fitness for the s po ition . In the case of the monastery of Iona it ha s been noted that Columba and thirteen o f his success ors were descended from a common 59

Grulban . ancestor , an Irish chief named Conall The monastic family consisted of fra tres : tho s e of tried devotion were called s eniores ; those who were

57 r e en . R Th e M a k 0 E l a , n n n . 2 6 . G I i g / g d, p 7 58 Re eves Wm 0 5. ci t. , 1 p . 34 2 . 59 Reev e s Wm . o . ci t . See tabl e o o s te . 2 , , p pp i p 34 . 54 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS strong for labour were op eram fratres ; and those unio res alumm 911 071 under instruction were j , , or 1

' — a iliares co lle c tio f m . Besides the congregation of professed members there were usually present er e ri ni ros el ti p enitentes p g , sometimes called p y , p , 60 or hospites whose sojourn was o f varied duration .

o fli cers l The number of was relatively sma l , the a bbo t rio r more important being the , the p , the e is c o us s criba Erinac h Airc hin p p , the , and the or ne a c h . The a bbo t was the superior of the monastic family and frequently had several houses under his H supreme control . e generally lived at the mother house . The branch houses were governed by local superiors called pri o rs who were subject to removal a s by the abbot . There w also a prior at the mother house who assisted the abbot and took his place in s admini tration when his superior was absent . The prior in this latter capacity is sometimes styled c us tos m o nas te rii s o econo m us , ometimes , and in the 61 Ferti his Irish Annals , g . An interes ting fact in connection with the Irish monastic organization is that the abbot was not i 62 necessarily a b sh0p . In matters of discipline and jurisdiction the abbot was supreme whether he was

a " fi r m 1 , 1 7: 1 1 m 60 Reev e m Ad a m n a t s W . n . 2 en e Sk W . Cel c , , , p 34 , 343 ; , , i S co tl a n d 6 1 2 n i p p . , 6 . e m o a s t c o r g a m za ti o n h e r e d e s c r be d a l e s e s ec a l l to I o n a bu t m a be co n s d e r e d i pp i p i y , y i a s typi ca l n o t o n ly o f Co lu m ban m o n a s te n es bu t o f l u sh m o n a s te r i es 1 n en er a l g . 61 Re e ve o . ci t . s Wm . . 6 Hea l hn i . o o . c t . 8 . , , p p 3 5 ; y , J , p p 9 62 Sken e Wm . Cel t c S co tl a n d , , i , p . 44 . I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 55

no t s a bishop o r no t . But if he were a bi hop there were certain duties which he could not perform . The ffi bishop ( epis co pus) a s such and in virtue of his o ce performed such functions as administration of Co n ‘ s Of firm ation and Holy Orders jus t a s at pre ent . cours e the abbot wa s frequently a bishop and co n sequently was vested with correspondingly increased “ powers . The abbot sometimes combined the 011100 of s f scribe with his other dutie . The special work o the s cribe will be dealt with later here it is sufficie nt to note that the o ffi ce o f scribe wa s held in such honour that we often find it recorded o f a certain s of aint that he was an excellent scribe , while as if . he wa s secondary importance , it is added that an 64 r bish o 0 . abbot , p

The lands belonging to the monastery o r church were usually managed by an o ffi cer called an erinach o r in Airchinn a e ch . , herenach ( Irish , ) The erina ch wa s first , who usually a layman , deducted his own stipend and gave the residue for the pur — s o f o r pose intended the support the church , the of relief the poor . It was generally understood to be the duty of the erina ch to keep the church clean

and in proper repair , and the grounds in order There were erina ch s in connection with nearly all

63 Sk n e e m o . i t . W . c 2 , , p p . 4 . 64 Se e An n a l s o tke F o u r M a s ter s I . . 1 f , , p p 399 , 4 0 , 4 2 0 , 2 44 . 4 58, 4 70 . 56 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS

65 the monasteries and churches . Lay erina chs were 66 usually tonsured .

ND M N F P REVENUES A EA S O SU P ORT. The monasteries derived their means of support Lands from a variety of sources , the chief being , F00 Dues i ts Tithes 3 G . , and , and f By far the most important of all these means of s support were the lands attached to the mona tery . s s Term on The e land , called lands in Ireland , derived their name in all probability trom the termini o r s , pillar stones , cros es set up to mark their boundaries within which there was right of s anctuary , and a freedom from the taxes and “ s s tribute of the secular Chieftains . The e lands were tilled by the monks themselves and formed the 68 s taple support of the establis hment . It was a maxim in all the primitive monasteries that the monk s support themselves by the labour of their

o wn . hands The mendicant orders , who depended s first largely upon alms were a later in titution , intro 69 du d D . c e into Ireland about 1 2 2 5 A . The monastic lands were sometimes increased by special grants from kings , or chiefs . These special grants when added to the foundation grant sometimes made

65 t i . o ce P W . o . c I . . 8 . J y , . , p , p 3 9 66 t a w o I l a d V A c . n e n L : r e n . . 1 2 i f , , p 3 67 t P a tr ck 1 L e o S . . To d d W . . 6 , H if f i , p 68 i t o ce P . W . o . c . I . . 8 1 . J y , , p , p 3 69 i t . H ea l oh n o . c . 1 0 . y , J , p p 4 I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 57

70 s be up an exten ive territory . When the lands came too large for the community to work , portion s of of them was rented to tenant . Part the duty of the erina ch was to collect the rents and other 71 tributes from the tenants . Ordinarily the monas t r — c o m e y wa s a s elf supporting institution . The fo r food munity produced everything they needed , clothing , and shelter . They owed little to society 72 in general but society owed much to them . There s wa s no privileged class in these early monasterie . All who were physically fit had to take part in the s manual labour , nor were the scribe or even the ” abbot exempt . In parts of the S enchus M one o f the ancient of of books law , it is prescribed as a duty society to first to pay tithes , as well as bestow alms and to no t fruits the Church , but tithes were generally nor regularly paid until after the Norman invas ion 75 1 1 2 A D in 7 . . Another subsidiary , but occasionally u wa s s bstantial , means of support the dues paid by the tribe to the abbot fo r the performance of 76 various religious functions . The Brehon Laws lay down s pe cifically the reciprocal obligations o f 77 s s om the clergy and laity in thi manner . In thi c

70 e i o c P 0 . t . W . c 1 . I . 8 . J y , , 2 . , p 3 71 To d d i t H 0 5. c . W . . 1 6 , , 1 p . 0 . 72 He a l oh n 0 . ci t . 1 0 1 0 y , J , 2 p p . 4 , 5 . 73 H ea l oh n b d P lu m m er h a r l C e o . i t . y , , ; , s , p c I . , . . J i i p i v cx . 74 A c t L a w o I l a d n en s r e n . 1 1 2 i f , III , 3 , 5 , 9 . 75 o e P o . ci t . I 1 c . . . 8 82 J y , W p , p p 3 , 3 . 76 . i t . I o ce P . o c . . 8 80 . J y , W p , p p 3 7 , 3 79 , 3 77 A n c en t L a ws 0 I r el a n d . i / , III , p p . 33 , 39 . 58 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

78 ne ction it should be pointed o ut that owing to its po s ition in the native social s ystem the Church in Ireland never became as in other lands by turns

o f . the servant , the ally , or the master the State im It was the companion of the people , and an portant element in the national life . f Gifts , or voluntary o ferings , were a further flu ctuatin source of income , but a g one , depending of largely on the location the monastery , its reputa of tion , the social condition its patrons , and a variety all of other accidental circumstances . Almost persons who visited a monastery left something of if s i value , their mean permitted . In early t mes f the o ferings , like other payments , were in ounces of gold or silver , or in kind . When Brian Boru

s 1 A D . vi ited Armagh in 004 . he laid on the great f old altar an of ering of twenty ounces of g , equivalent 79 000 to 35 or $ 7000 at the present day .

TH E BUI LDINGS The monastery including the whole group of monastic buildings was generally , but not always , a surrounded by a strong rampart , commonly circul r ’ or elliptical , after the manner of the homesteads of the laity . The enclosure with its bounding rampart n was designated in Irish by various names . Whe

73 Th e r e l a ti o n b e twe en th e I ri sh Ch u r ch a n d th e Sta te i s v e r a bl e t c o n c i se l tr e a te d i n a a m h le t Re v a m e s y y y p p by . F Ca s d a u l i n n s a c u 1 le Th e I h h n . s St . P e o t t t d r s u k i y , , , i ” a s a n E l e m e n t i n I r s h N a t o n a l t wh o se th es s i s c ed h er e i i i y i it . 79 i t . o ce P . W . 0 . c I . 82 . J y , , 2 , p . 3

60 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C S CHOOLS

s for the cow situated in convenient pasture land . It the monastery was located inland there was a fish r r o it . pond a convenient ha bour , near the sea The various buildings occupied different s ituations 86 according to local convenience . The structure of thes e early monas teries was of s a imple and inexpensive character . Like the early firs t Celtic churches , they were built at of earth ,

s o r . wattle , wood It was not until the eighth century that stone buildings began to be substituted a s for wooden ones , a protection against the ravages 87 o f D the anes . The simplicity and temporary character o f these early foundations would account fo r the quickness with which monastic cities s prang up a s well a s for the fact that comparatively few material remains o f these monastic settlements are now chiefl now to be s een . They are remembered y for the great spiritual and literary heritage which

they were the means o f transmitting .

They were o f variou s sizes . Those planted on barren islands o ff the coast of Ireland and Scotland In must have been small . each of the great

s o f f mona teries Clonard , Bangor and Clon ert there 000 s were 3 , including probably both monk and

M o lais e St . St . s tudents . had at Mungret , Gobban had 1 000 and so on down to the school of

t s 0 . S . Mobi at Gla nevin with 5 This last number , — 86 i Hea l oh n 0 . ci t . . 6 . Ree v es Wm . i b d y , 2 p p 94 9 , , ; , J

87 i t . . 1 . a r r en F . B . 0 . c W , , 2 p 7 I RI S H M ONASTI CI SM 6 1

fift y , seems to have been the usual number in the 88 smaller monastic schools .

DAI LY LI FE I N AN I RI S H M O NASTERY

The inve stigations o f s cholars in recent ye ars ” brought to light several Rules which were written by early Irish saints fo r the direction and guidan c e f s o their monk . These Rules were frequently to s referred in ancient document , but some historians doubted their existence until their dis c overy set all doubts as ide and furnished anothe r s f s B proo f of the trustworthine s o Iri h records . y comparing these Rules with the references in the 90 Lives of the (I ris h) Saints to the domestic and religiou s dis cipline of the monk s we are able to form a toler ably correct picture of the real character of monastic life in Ireland during the period under co n s s ideration . While the e Rules are neither so elaborate nor s o s ystematic a s the famous R u le of t e S . B ne dic t to , which they eventually gave place , ‘ yet they enable u s to realize the au stere simplicity o f s Iri h monasticism . However they may differ in detail s thes e Rules of the Irish Saints are in agreement as to the t Co lumbanu s S . character of the daily work . thus tersely de s cr ibes the w ork o f an Irish mona stery :

88 i t . a i . e . o . c r r n F o . c t 1 o c P . W e B . W , . . , p p 7 ; J y , , p I l . . 4 09 . 39 e B i b i o z u S e l r a R l es . g fl y , 90 i O . c L v s a t o s . p t . i e f S in 62 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

e unandum sicut Ergo quotidie j j est , quotidie o randum e st labo randum , quotidie , quotidie est ” 91 l ndum e e . g Fasting and prayer , labour and study were the daily task of the monk in every Irish

monastery .

FASTING During the whole year Wednesday and Friday were fas t days in Iona and no food was taken before ” 92 noon unles s some troublesome guest rendered a dis pens ation desirable ; for charity went before s a crific e s D in the old Iri h Canon . uring Lent and Advent only o ne meal was allowed and that was 93 taken in the evening . Though the custom of Iona was severe , it was mildness itself as compared with a e that of Bangor . Only one meal was llow d the whole year round and that not eaten until 94 f evening . The quality o food in Bangor was w inferior to that of Iona where , as Reeves has sho n , the dietary consisted of bread ( s ometimes made of ’ lk s mi fi h e flesh . barley) , , , ggs , and probably seal s On Sundays and festival s the monk s were some 95 s n times allowed ome additional luxury . In Ba gor , u Ane ra as later in L xeuil , g y , and Bobbio the food fl i d apparently consisted of cabbage , pulse , our m xe

91 Co lu m ba n u s R e 11 1 0 M o n a r eh o m m e C . . c t d b , , III , i y i Co n c a n n o n e le n 0 t . C u a H e l m . S n 68 . , , f / o b , p ’ 92 Ree v e s m Ad a m a t l u m b W . n : V ta S a n c Co a n e . 8 . , , i i , p 34

o ca nn n H l n . i t . o e e o c . 6 . r , , p p 9 Sfb1 ji

95 Ree ve s W o . i m . c t . , , p p . 3 55 . I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 63

96

fi sh . with water , a little portion of biscuit and Beer was sometimes allowed as a drink even by

96"' t M lru an Columbanus o n S . ae , but the other hand of Tallaght was such a strict disciplinarian that no t o f only did he prohibit the use beverage , but even 97 mus ic was forbidden .

“ PRAYER A considerable portion of both day and night was ?8 s s given to the work of prai ing God . Eight time a day did the monk s attired in their white robes wend their way to the church for the great work of e— O us D ei o f their lif the p , the Celebration the D ivine Praises . Mass was generally celebrated at an early hour each morning before the labour o f

the day began . The ordinary Canonical Hours — were chanted in choir Matins and Lauds generally ' D ffic o f at midnight . The ivine O e was made up the Ps alms and Les s ons from the Old and New s Testament . The entire Psaltery appear to have been recited during the daily o fli ce at least at certain 99 of times the year . Sometimes the choir was divided into groups which in turn chanted the

96 Co n ca n n on H elen . , , ibid 96a 1 1 0 2 .

9 M 0A1i s er M u i r d a c/z t R . S . e Abbo t o M on a s ter bo ce , , , f i ,

. 2 p 3 . 98 Th e n u mber o f Ca n on i ca l H ou r s v a r y i n differ en t Ru l e s s o ° m e i v e 1 1 2 o th er s s e v en th e B an o r u sa e w a s e z h t . g , g g g Se e n o tes b R I Tr a cta t o zb a o a l H o u r s . B e s t o n e n e C n n c y . i e d te d r o m th e L o i f e b r B r e ce i n M is cell a n y to Ka n o M ey er . 99 See Co n ca n n n t i . o H el en o . c , p p p . 58 , 67 ; P lu m m er , I . . , cx vu . 64 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

D s ivine Prai es day and night without intermission . In the monastery of Tallaght the Go s pels were read in the refectory at meal times , the Gospels s th( being taken in turn , one for each eason of 1 °° year .

LABOUR We have referred to the obligation that was placed upon all members of the monastic community 1 01 o n f to engage some kind o manual labour . Tasks requiring special skill were as signed to monk s who r had a natural aptitude for s uch wo k . Thus the s z dutie of carpenter , smith , and bra ier were assigned 1 02 s u li s to pecially q a fied monk . Yet even the s cr ibes and artistic craftsmen were required to spend f 1 08 part o their time at ordinary manual work . The word la bo r are is used in a wider sens e than our term m a nu al la o ur t efin b . d es The Rule of S . Columba the term work ” in these words Work is

viz . divided into three parts , thine own work , and the work o f the place a s regards its real wants ; ’ s s brethren s econdly , thy hare of the work lastly , n s n helping the neighbours by i truction , or writi g , or s o r sewing garment , whatever labour they may be in want Never to be idle fo r one moment

1 00 M u i r d a ch Abbo t 0 Cl o n m a c o s e M a c Ali s ter R . S e n , , / i ,

6 . p . 3 1 01 u Se e a bo ve M ea n s o f S ppo r t . 1 02 i n n o . c t . Co ca n n o n , H e le , f p . 7 5 . 1 03 i He a l o . t . y . c . 1 0 . , J , p p 4 ’ 1 04 P u bl sh e d i n ke n S e s Cel t c S co tl a n d . 0 . i i , p 5 9 I RI SH M ONASTI CI SM 65

Adamnan was the monastic ideal . Accordingly repres ents his hero a s unable to pas s the space o f one hour without applying himself either to prayer or o r or reading , writing , else some manual work ”05

STUDY In subsequent chapters we shall deal with the

monks in their capacity as teachers and scribes . Here we shall refer briefly to their fourth task le endum g , reading or study The study of the Sacred Scriptures was practis ed daily by the more o f learned members the community , while the younger members learned by rote a portion of the Ps alter each day until they could repeat the whole

f St . of it from memory . The story o how Columba when a tiny boy took up the Psalm where his tutor s broke down is well known , while the numerou glosses o n the Psalms and other portions of the Bible are convincing proofs o f the inten sive study 1 06 o f the Scriptures by these early monks . Homilies o r Lives of the Saints formed part o f the sacred reading and we may reasonably suppose that the reading o f the Go spel s in the refectory during meal hours was a practice which was no t c o nfined to the of a nor monastery Tall ght , was such reading

1 05 Ad a m n n a V ta S . C l u m a e eve o n R s E d t . . , i o b , i i , p 9 1 0 ’ ’ 5 Stoke s an d Str a ch an Th es a u r u s P a l a o h be zcu e z m s , I . , — ’ 8 fo r l o ss e o n Ps a l m s a n n h p 4 3 ; O H l o , o n L v es of . G J , i ms Sa m ts . . 2 86 fo r sto r o f St . Co lu m ba , VI , p y . (D498) 66 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

limited to this particular time of the day . Indeed early Irish religious literature clearly points to a familiarity with the Holy B ook .

OTH ER PRACTI CES AND CHARACTERI STI CS O F I RI SH M ONASTI C L I FE O BEDIENCE

The ideal o f prompt and unhes itating obedience o f hi s so to the commands superiors , characteristic of monk is n o the Irish , one which can ot be underst od apart from the Irish conception of Monasticism as ” fi htin th e g g for Christ . In all things lawful monk yielded prompt and unquestioning obedience and was ready to go to the ends of the earth if his conce superior should only s peak the word . The p tion that the monk should be a miles was particularly adapted to the native temperament .

To the pagan ideals of truth , courage , and s trength were added the Christian virtues of s — obedience to authority , elf sacrifice , and devotion to the welfare o f mankind without distinction of race r e n or count y . With such ideals they bravely countered all privations and dangers when they " undertook their peregr inatio pro Christo . H umility was pri zed as a Christian virtue and was x e emplifie d in many ways . The superiors though exacting prompt obedience and due respect from their monks were not tyrannical a nd led as s trict and s imple a life a s the other members of the com

1 07 ’ e v Ado n n o n s L 0 St . C l u m a Re es W m . e . 2 0 , , if / o b , pp , 2 2 . 36 . 43 . 49 .

68 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS fastly to principle even though that adherence cau s ed him to be driven from the kingdom of the Franks

SI LENCE There was s ilence in the refectory during meals

so that the reader could be distinctly heard , and

wa s s . silence compulsory at other times al o Indeed , in their intercours e with each other the conversation o f the monks was reserved at all times , but as regards their relation to s ociety at large the objects of their system were too practical and their engage ments to o much characteri zed by common s en se to impo s e any res traint in conversation but such as 1 1 1 conduced to dignity and decorum .

H O SP ITALITY

The monastery was usually located 5 0 a s to be easily accessible to visitors for whom a special

- Ho s pice o r Guest hous e was provided . We have s een that when a —guest arrived there was a relaxa tion of the fas t so strongly had the national characteristic of hospitality pervaded the monastic 1 1 2

i . l fe Women , however , were rigidly excluded “3 from the monastery — 1 1 0 t . 1 1 1 . i . 86 l en 0 1 . c Co n c a n n o n , H e , 1 p p 9

1 1 1 i t . e v W m . o . c . . Re es , , p p 343 , 344 1 2 1 6 1 i t . 66 1 e W . o . c . 2 2 0 2 o yc P . , , , ; II , , 7 , J , , p 9 5 33 33

68 , 4 83 . 1 1 3 ve Wm . 0 . a t . . . Re e s , , p p p 343 , 344 I RI S H M ONASTI CI SM 69

LOVE OF NATURE Another notable characteristic was the love of

the monks for nature , animate and inanimate . This

is shown in many ways , such as in the selection of of the sites their monasteries , and in their treatment o f s s animal . Moreover , they often gave expres ion

to their feelings for nature in verse , with the result that they are acknowledged to be pi oneers in the ” field of Nature Poetry as well as in many other 1 1 4 S pheres of intellectual activity . Having regard to all the facts we have brought ’ Dr together . Healy s eloquent tribute to Irish s u i s mona ticism appears to be amply j stified . It worth quoting ! Fasting and prayer , labour and study are the s daily task of the monks in every mona tery . How well and unselfishly that toil was performed the of s history Europe tells . The monk made roads ,

cleared the forests , and fertilised the desert . Their s monasterie in Ireland were the sites of o ur cities . They preserved fo r u s the literary treasures o f antiquity ; they multiplied copies of the best and newest books ; they illumined them o f with loving care . They taught the children rich and poor alike ; they were the greates t authors , painters , architects since the . decline of the Roman Empire . They were the physicians

1 1 4 Fo r tr a n s l a t on s o f E a r l I r sh Na tu r e P o etr s e e . i y i y Si er so n G . B a r d s o th e a el a n d a ll M e er Ku n Old g , , f G G ; y , o , I m h P o e tr ; Hu ll E l e a n o r P o em B o o k o th e a el . y , , f G 70 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH O OLS o f the poor ; they served the and in their homes . And when

and the greates t benefactors of ” 11 5 has known .

1 1 5 1 0 . He a ly o hn o . ci t. . 1 02 , 3 , J , p p p CHAPTER IV

THE RELATI ON OF TH E I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS T TH E EDUCAT AL TUAT O — GENERAL ION S I I ON 0 D . (55 900 A. )

THE wide distribution of Irish monastic schools throughout Ireland , Scotland , England , France , wa s Belgium , Germany , and even Italy , discussed in the previous chapter . Reference was also made to the numerous . Irish miss ionaries who going abroad were regarded as representative of a higher culture than was then to be found on the ” 1 Continent . Here we shall consider the general educational situation in Ireland with a view to deter mine the causes which produced results o f such moment to the spread of Christianity and to resto ra tion of learning . D uring the sixth , seventh and eighth centuries the greater part of Britain and Europe was in a state of turmoil consequent o n the barbarian invasion while Ireland escaped the ravages such an invasion

1 mmer H I 2 . r sh E l em en t i n M ed e va l Cu l tu r e . 1 0 . Zi , , i i , p 71 72 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C S CH O OLS

entails . During this period of relative domestic peace Ireland was an oasis in the educational desert o f Europe then , if ever , she deserved to be styled o f the school the West , the quiet habitation of ” 2 sanctity and literature . In bringing about this of f desirable state a fairs , no doubt , the monastic s chools took a leading part , but there were other contributory factors the chief of which was the lay schools whose relation to the monas tic will now be ri fl s touched upon very b e y . We hall also endeavour to determine the extent to which education prevailed — among the different clas ses of society and finally we shall discuss the question of the admission of foreign students to Irish monastic s chools .

DUAL SYSTEM O F SCHOOLS

The s chool s o f ancient Ireland were of two classes , lay and ecclesiastical . The ecclesiastical o r monastic s chools as we have seen were of

Christian origin , and were conducted by monks . o r The lay , secular , schools existed from a i o f w t per od unkno n antiquity , and in pagan imes s were taught by druid . The monastic schools were celebrated all over Europe during the Middle Ages the lay s chools though playing an important part

in spreading learning at home are not so well known .

2 ’ Sa mu e l i n a lette r to Ch a r les O co n n o r ’ ’ u b rsh e d 1 n O Re 1 11 I s h l o c1 ted t s i . A s s n Wr er . . p y i , p p , ii 1 11 Ar t c le D r . oh n s o n a n d I r el a n d in I n s h M o n th l XLVL i J y, .

8 . 53 , p 2 1 1 . I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OO LS 73 These two classes of schools are quite distinct all of through the literary history Ireland , and without t m o rane conflicting with each other worked con e p " t r fi ously from the sixth to the nineteenth cen u y

LAY S CH OO LS

As we are mainly interested in the monastic schools we shall deal with the lay school s only so far as is neces s ary to explain the general educational situation in Ireland during the period we have s! chosen . Originally pagan and taught by druid these lay schools held their ground after the general s of now pread the new faith , but were taught by o llam hna o r Christian doctors , laymen who took the 1‘ rn s place of the druid teachers of earlier ti e . The aim of thes e schools at first was apparently to prepare a limited number o f men as bre hons or li s enac hidhe judges , and fi or poets , and or s hi torians . In very early times the same man per formed two o r more of these o ffice s . In later times z there was a tendency to speciali ation . A lay

college generally comprised three distinct schools . M a cAirt K o f We are told that Cormac , ing Ireland 2 — 2 A . D . o ne ( 54 77 ) founded three schools , for the of o ne fo r study Military Science , one for Law and 5 s General Literature . It would appear that school of this las t type developed into the Bardic

3 o ce P . W . o c a H s to d y , , S l r y o I r el a n I . 08 . J i i f , , 4 4 H d e D ou l a s L ter a r H s to r o I r el a n d 2 1 y , g , i y i y f , p . 4 . 5 Hu ll E lea n or T x t B o ok o I s h t a tu e r L er r e I . 1 8 . , , f i i , , 9 74 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

s Schools in which were taught poetry , hi tory , and

vernacular literature in general . The law schools and military schools were evidently exclusively pro ” fes sio nal , whereas the Bardic Schools were attended by those seeking adm ission to the Bardic ts i n Order and others desir ng a liberal e ducatio .

RE- O RGANI ZATI ON O F BARDI C SCHOOLS The members of Bardic Order be came so numerous and exacting in their demands as to arouse widespread dissatisfaction with the result that the complete abolition of the Order was con t l t i emp a ed . Owing to the timely intervent on of t S . Columba reform was substituted for abolition .

- At St . D . the Convention of Drum Ceata 573 A. Columba who had received part of his own educa tion in a Bardic School pleaded the cause of the bards with such success that the whole system of

public secular education was reorganized . The s cheme was devised by the chief po et ( ar d- ollamh) f o D a Fo r aill . Ireland , all n g There was to be a chief school or college for each of the h y e provinces ; and under these were several smaller h s tuat . schools , one for each or di trict They were all endowed with lands and all thos e persons who

needed it received free education in them . The heads of these schools were o llam hna doctors of ’ literature and poetry , and were all laymen .

6 l H s to r o r el a d 1 o c a I . W . S n I . . o c e P . 8 1 y , , i i y f , , pp 4 , 4 9 7 ’ n M a n s a d us to m s e e n C I . Cu r r Eu n er . . 8 y , g , , , p 7

76 1 11 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C 5 011 001 5

he B o ok of Iris h Litera tur e is enough to convince t most sceptical on this point1 0

RELATI O N O F TH E LAY SCHOOL TO TH E M ONASTI C SCH OOL

f aim Though di fering in , both the lay school and the monastic school were so closely related to the social system that there does not appear to have been any actual antagonism between them . They

were to a large extent complementary . As an instance of the friendly relations which obtained between the ecclesiastics and the lay school we t S . might cite the fact , already referred to , that f St Columba pleaded the cause o the bards . . Columba himself had practical experience of the

bards as teachers . We are told that after he had spent some years at the monastic school of Finnian of Moville and having been ordained deacon he placed himself under the instruction of an aged bar d 1 1 called Gemman . Nor did his monks in the severe and pious solitude o f Iona lose their love for their n national poetry . O one occasion it is recorded they inquired from the s aint why he did not ask an Irish poet who vi—sited Iona to recite a poem for them after the s erm on a question that did not scandalize 1 2 the saint in the least . We know also that much

l 1 0 0 i n t oll e 8 0 a lso Ca ta l o gu e of—I r is h MSS . n Tr i i y C ge 0 11 01 111 Th e B bl o r a h 0 I n s . 2 8 0 , p p 3 5 ; i i p / ' 5 5 t l o l o a n d f7 1 s P r m ted 2ater a tu r e e d te b fi 1 Best g y , i y , 1 — p p . 3 07 . 1 1 Re e ve Ad a m a 1 . s W m . n n . 1 0 0 , , , p p 3 , 7 1 2 — i t . 0 . c p , p p . 79 80 . 1 11 1 5 1 1 M O NASTI C S CH O OLS 77 of the pagan literature was preserved by monastic s o f fine st s scribes , and ome the Old Irish poem that have been discovered were written by monk s ” /

f . on the margin o M SS . they were copying These examples are given for the purpose o f removing a fals e impression that there wa s a clear cut line o f demarcation between the study of native and s classical literature . As a learned French Celtici t ’ writes On aurait tort de croire qu en Irelande il y eut entre les savants a ddo nés aux lettres ss o n a é s cla iques la th ologie , alors leurs in eparable s s é —et les s és a oci e , gens des lettre vou a la cul litterature e ture de la nationale , a linge de s para tion presque infranchissable qu ’ on remarque pendant le moyen age sur le On the other hand many laymen attended Monastic s chools at some period o f their lives not only to get religious in struction but to get a wider 1 5 general education . Besides laymen were s ome s times professors in the monastic chools , and even occupied the important position o f Fer - leighinn o r ' o f s s fo r Principal a mona tic chool , example Flann M ainistre ch d 1 ( . 056 a layman and the most n s of his lear ed cholar in Ireland time , was appointed

- le i hinn - oi s Fer g Mona terboice . About a century earlier the lay ollamh , Mac Cosse , held a similar

1 3 M e er Ku n Ol d I r s h P o tr ° y , o , e y . Se e s ev er a l e x a m 105 i ’ I a l s o Th es a u r u s P a l a e o h i ber m eu s I I , . . 2 0 2 2 2 , p p 9 , 9 3 , 9 4 , 96 . 1 4 ’ D e u ba n v lle H . d Arb o i , s , Li tte m tu r e Cel t u e I J i i iq , . , 3 84 . 1 5 0 1 00 P . W 5 , . 0 . ci t . I , 2 . , p p . 1 8 1 Hu ll E t 4 , . o i 4 9 ; , , p . c . I 789 M N T 78 Tm , EARLY n us u O AS I C S CH OOLS

- Ailithir position in the great school of Ros , now 1 6 R s . o Carbery , in Cork Owing to the increa s ing popularity of the monastic schools and the appointment of laymen as professors in monastic schools there was a tendency to introduce into the Bardic school some of the s ubjects which attracted lay students to monastic ’ t ri in s mre an t S . B c To schools . College at g (rec e Dre oain in Tuaim ) near Ballyconnel Cavan , founded e c cle si in the seventh century , though having an f astio for Principal was typical o the lay schools . It o ne had one school for law , for classics , and one for n poetry and general Gaelic lear ing . Each school ” druim c li was under a special , or head professor , corresponding apparently to a Dean in a modern university .

H O M E E DUCATI ON AND FOSTERAGE Thus far we have dealt with literary and pro f i n ess o al education . It remains to add a few words

in regard to what may be called home education . Thi s education was partly literary and partly i f r the technical in nature , and d f e ed according to s ex a nd s age , , ocial position of the child . In addition to the usual literary education the s sons of the chief were instructed in archery , 1 7a s la in wimming , and chess p y g , while the

1 6 o e W o . i t . I 1 . c P . . c . J y , , fi , 4 7 1 7 O Cu r r E u n M a n er s a d us to ms 2 MS . e e n n C I . . f y , g . , , 9 M a te n al s , p . 50 . 1 7a Th e I r sh w o r d tkch ea l i a i fi s u su lly tr an s la te d ch ess . IRISH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS 79

- out daughters were taught sewing , cutting and of embroidery . The sons chiefs were also taught o f hors emanship . The children the wealthy class were often put to fosterage and the foster father was held responsible for the instruction in these branches for neglect of which he was pun ished by

- a fine of two thirds the fosterage fee . The Brehon Law clearly defines the relation between the teacher and pupil in the following words The social position that is —considered between the foster- pupil and his foster father i s that the him latter is to instruct without reserve , and to

prepare him for his degree , and to chastise him without severity ; to feed and to clothe him while he is learning his lawful profession unless he obtains s u it (food and clothing) from another per on . O son to s s the other hand , the foster is a ist his tutor his o ld to in poverty , and support age , and give him the honour price o f the degree fo r which he is s o f being prepared , and all the gain his art while is it first o f he earning , and the earning his art after he has left the hOu s e of his tutor and moreover the literary foster father has power o f judgment and proof and witnesses upon his foster son as the ’ ”8 father has upon his son . In the case of children who were put to fosterage the parents were apparently left to their o wn discre tion as to the training o f their children in their own s s f homes . In uch a case the in truction wa s o the

1 8 An c e t La ws o I r l a d n e n . Als o 1 1 1 i f , 349 p p . 53 , 6 6 . 80 TH E EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C S CH O O LS more or less technical type that all must master to a greater or less extent in order to dis charge the 1 9 ordinary duties of life . Notwithstanding the facilities afforded by the numerous lay and monastic schools the great body of the people were probably neither able to read or

write , yet they were not uneducated . They had o f e an education another kind , reciting po try ,

historical tales , and legends , or listening to recita

tion in which all took delight . In every hamlet

there wa s o ne or more amateur reciters . This practice o f li stening to the recitation of s tories and poems wa s then a s general as the reading o f news 0 papers and story - books is at the present day ? Anyone acquainted with the s ocial life of the Irish s peaking peasantry even in modern Ireland and has s s li tened to a tory told , or poem recited , by a s e anc haidhe (raconteur) will realise that this was an d true education , a real exercise for the intellect r fin d f o a e e source o enjoyment . Taking educati n then in the broad sense we s ee that the great body o f the Irish people in these early times were really

educated .

EDUCATI ON O F WO M EN

We have ample evidence that education in

ancient Ireland wa s not co nfine d to men . As we

1 9 F o s t 2 6 . For er a c i t . 1 8 0 5 c I . o y ce P . W 7 . . , p p 4 , 4 g , 1 se e I . , p . 4 . 20 2 6 . . ci t . I . 1 8 o ce P . W . o . J y , , p , p p 4 , 4 I RI SH M ONASTI C S CH O OLS 8 1

have already seen , the Brehon Laws made provi sion for the education of girls as well as for that of St boys . In a convent established by . Brigid t K S . 2 A. D . (d . 5 5 ) at ildare we are told that Mel 21 s was employed to in truct herself and her nurse , and the history o f that school would lead u s to infer that it compared not unfavourably with some of the t f s S . o great monastic school . Brendan Clonfert D n ld d A . . o e o ( . 577 ) when a child about year was f t placed in fosterage in the convent o S . Ita at K for five Co . illeedy , Limerick , where he remained

s t . years . This young saint alway looked upon S Ita as his foster mother and often had listened to 22 s On ne s her coun els . o occasion she advi ed him not to study with women lest some evilly disposed “ s s per on might revile him . We may afely infer from this that it was no t unusual for young children o f to receive the rudiments education from the nuns , but that by the time they reached the age of six 24 or more probably s even years they were sent to ’ s t 3 . S . the mona tic school Moreover , Ita words o f advice clearly suggest that education was pro vided fo r girls but that except in the case o f children o f pre - adolescent age she was decidedly opposed to co - t education . Unlike S . Brendan and some other s St Columb n s . a u to aints , was not put fosterage

z1 H e a l oh n o . ci t . 1 2 y , J , fi p . 3 . 22 H e a l h n o . i t o c . 2 1 1 . y , J ” fi p . 23 Stoke s Wh tl e L ves o tke Sa n ts r o m th e B o o k o , i y , i f i f f L s m o r i e . 24 P lu m m r ) . t e G . o ci . I . . . . o ce o . c I 0 , , z , p cxv ; Ty , . 44 , p . 2 5 1 . ( D 498) 82 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS

’ and his childhood s days were spent in his father 5 ’ 25 home under his mother s care . His latest and best biographer informs u s that he received his earliest literary education frorn an elderly lady who ’ 26 s lived near hi parent s home . One of the First Order of Saints named M ugi nt founded a schoo l in Scotland to which girls as well as boys wer e 27 i admitted . It is evident l kewise that the Irish missionaries in Northumbria did much for the t education o f women . Among the more notewor hy convents o r monasterie s for women that owe their t ’ S . origin to Irish missionaries were Bee s , Cold Streanshalch all ingham , or Whitby which are

28 - referred to by Bede . It was in this last named monas tery and by the enlightened patronage of

- Abbess Hilda that the earliest Anglo Saxon poet , 29 f . h Caedmon , was encouraged in his e forts T at women were sometimes accomplished scribes is

quite probable . In an old record we are informed ’ that in the sixth century King Brandufi s mother s del rai h t had a writing tyle ( g g p ) , so that she mus 30 have practised writing on waxen tablets , this being

25 Con ca n no n Helen o t . ci 1 . , , fi. p . 0 26 0 5. a t . 2 3 p p . 4 , 2 5 . 27 ’ De u ba n v lle d r o i La l za t o n d : C l l r H . A b s C v c a e J i i , , i i i i , 1 p . 09 . 2 i W a r r n e F . E o . ci t . M r a n tr I s ]: . 1 o Pa ck r f , p p 4 ; , i , i S a m ts m r e a t B r i t a n . 2 8 2 . Mo n ta la m be r t Con te G i ’ p p , 49 . ’ d e L es M a m a ~ d Occi J en t , , I p . 6 2 .

f o m th e B e i n n i n to t n t [ g es Ch a ter s i . , u . p m . 15 0 Ca m n d g e H s to r y o E n gi s h zi te r a tu r e I — i f g , p p . 1 3 1 2 30 o ce P . o W . ci t . y , . , I . . 1 0 . J p , p 4

84 TH E 11 111113 1 I RI SH M ONASTI C 5 011 001 5

FO REIGN STUDENTS IN I RELAN D The fame o f the Irish monastic schools of the seventh , eighth and ninth centuries attracted a o f large number students from foreign lands . To thes e the I rish monks extended freely the benefits of education which during this period were not

35 The Felir e of Aengus which according to linguis tic and other internal evidence was written "6 as early as the seventh century mentions vari ous : nationalities who have died in Ireland Romans , s s Gaul , ometimes called Franks , monks of Egypt , and Saxons (more correctly Angles) . The well known stone inscription VII RO M ANI in the ” Arranmo re testifie s churchyard of St . Brecan in s to this day of pre ence of Romans . It is also known that in times of persecution Egyptian monks 38 fle d to Ireland . In this same calendar of Aengus mention is made of seven Egyptian monks who died Lives o Iris k in one place . Scattered through the f S aints there are innumerable passages recording the arrival and departure of foreign pilgrims or students , o r noting their res idence or death . Thus we hear of Britons , including a British bishop , at Clon o f s fert ; Briti h monks at Rahen , Lynally , Tagh m o n and h , Clonard , Ferns , Tallagh ; of a Britis

3S B o o k o L s te r bo e n . L a r B r e e 2 d . b e ted f i , p 3 3 ; p 3 ; i Stokes Wh i tle R o a l I r s Aca d em M 3. en , 5 S a 1 880 . y , y i y , 36 M e e r Ku n o L ea r n n i I r l d n e a n . 2 . y , , i g , p 4 37 P e tr i e eo r e Cb r i s ti a n I ns cr t , , on s I I . . i . G g ip i , , p x v 38 o ce P . W . o . ci t . I 1 J y , , p . , p . 4 3 . I RI S H M ONASTI C S CH O OLS 85 priest at Hare Island in Lough Ree ; o f British ” peregrini at Tullach Bennan . We even know the names o f many British s aints w 0 studied or t M o cu da res ided in Ireland : Ca do c under . at s s Cara nto c C bi Li more , Gilda , , y , Petroc , and 39 Sherebore e 0 Sampson . Aldhelm , bishop of (7 5 Eadfrid s o f 0 A. D . 7 7 ) in a letter to , bi hop Lindis ‘ ’ fleet s o f farne , states that load Angles went to Ire 40 ’ s land . A pas age in Bede corroborates Aldhelm s ! ‘ of s of testimony . Speaking the ravage the Yellow D s Plague in 664 A . . Bede ays This pestilence

did no less harm in the i sland of Ireland . Many o f the nobility and of the lower rank s of the English nation were there at the time who in the days o f — the Bishops Finan (65 1 66 1 ) and Colman (66 1 forsaking their native i sland retired thither o f or either for the sake divine studies , a more con tinent life : and some o f them presently devoted thems elves to monastic life others chose rather to ’ o ne applythemselves to study , going from master s

cell to another . The Scots willingly received them

all , and took care to supply them with food as well a s to furni sh them with book s to read and their , ” 41 teaching all gratis . The bishop Finan and Colman who are referred to by Bede were respe c tivel of y the second and third abbots Lindisfarne .

39 P l m m er o i C . . c t . , , p I . i . u , . x v 40 5 zs to l a s m M o m m en ta G e r m a n i a e H i s to r i a e E sto la , pi ’ ’ z t . ; fi s o l a s M er o vm i e t Ca r o li n z Ae v z III g I . . 2 1 . g , , p 3 41 B e d e E ccl s , e a s t ca l H s tor y o E n l a n d Bk a _ . . Ch . i i i f , III , ’ g p xx v1 1 . Boh u s E n l sh Tr a n sl a , g i tion . 86 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

d D . an After the Synod of Whitby (644 A. ) Colman his English adherents who refused to adopt the Roman usage with regard to the date o f Easter and the form of ton sure retired to a small island called Inisbo finn o ff the coas t of Mayo and there founded a monastery about 667 AD A little later Colman founded another monastery on the mainland which he placed in charge of his English companions and

‘

s . a s D disciple As late 730 A . . at least this monastery was occupied by English monks and was named by the Iri sh Mayo of the We know to o that one of the divisions of Armagh was called Trian Saxon or the Saxon ’ s Third from s it the great number of English tudents inhabiting , and we learn incidentally that in the eighth century seven streets in a town called Kilbally near Rahen ’

K Co . in ing s were wholly occupied by Galls , or 43 foreigners . Among the foreign students there were sometimes Of princes . the more illustrious of these we may d 2 ilfr n s 6 A id d . mention O wald ( . 4 ) and ( ki gs f D d o . . 6 Northumbria . and agobert I I ( 79) king of

a . France , all of whom were educated in Irel nd Owing to one o f thos e wars so common in England K n in the seventh century Oswald , son of i g Ethel o f frid Northumbria , had to seek refuge in Ireland s fift n when he wa ee years old . He was educated s On in a mona tery and became a Christian . 42 i — H a l h n o . c t . e o . 0 2 . y , J , p p p 53 53 ’ 43 P e r e o r Ro u d s t Tow er . e e n . O Cur r E i , G g , , p 3 55 y ,

M a n n e r : C . , p . 38.

88 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C s c11 0 0L5 gave him birth but Ireland reared and educated him . Quem tibi iam genuit fecunda Britania mater do cta que nutrivit studiis aed Hibernia Bede mentions other Anglo - Saxon missionaries who in addition to Wilibrord received their training in Irish schools o f these the most familiar names are 60 i r e ld A ilbert V ctbe t H wa . and g , a native of Gaul , after spending some time in Ireland studying the s t Scripture , was appointed bishop of the Wes D Saxons in 650 A . . and later occupied the episcopal 51 s e e of Paris Other distinguished students were

. us the Angles , Chad and Egbert Bede tells that Egbert spent a long time in exile in Ireland studying 52 the Scriptures . Apparently the prestige of the Irish schools continued to draw many students from England even after the establishment of schools in n their own country ; for we h d Aldhelm (d . 709

D . A . ) writing in a somewhat bitter mood to three young men who had just returned from the Irish s chools Why does Ireland pride herself on such a priority that such numbers of stu dents look there i from England , as if upon th s fruitful soil there were not abundance o f Argivi didas c a li (o r Gree k s master ) , to be found fully capable of solving the deepes t problems of religion and s atisfying the most ” 53 ambitious of students . , Zimmer looks upon the

49 o d u te ro m m m er H . I r sh E l em e n t i n M ed e val Q f Zi , , i i Cu l tu r e . 2 , p 3 . 50 B d e o . ci t . B o k V a e h . o . C X . , p , p IX . , 51 i i 0 . t . i Be d e , 15 c I I I . , v . 52 i t i Be d e o . c . . i . , p IV , ’ 53 u P a tr ol o a La t a e e M e s n To m . S u s 8 co l . ig gi i , 9 , 3 8 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C S CH O O LS 9 reluctance of Aldhelm to acknowledge the superi o rity of the Irish monastic schools a s an additional 54 testimony in their favour . There are so me grounds for believing that Alcuin ( whos e name is intimately connected with the Carol of ingian revival learning studied in Ireland , prob 55 56 ably in Clonmacnoise . Meyer , Joyce , and ” no t Healy , do hesitate to claim him as a student 58 of Clonmacnoise . Turner thinks it more probable that he was a student o f the s chool o fYork (in which case he came under Irish as well as Roman ” influenc e ) but regards him as representative of

s Iri h rather than English scholarship . The opinion that Alcuin studied at Clonmacnoise is based on a 6° lette1 which is evidently o ne o f a series written by

G l h - o c u d . 2 le i hinn o r Alcuin to ( 79 Fer g , o f Headmaster the school of Clonmacnoise . This Golchu wa s a very distinguished scholar and teacher .

There is no evidence that he ever left Ireland , but

his name was well known on the Continent . The general opinion o f his contemporaries was that no o ne in any age o r any country wa s equal to him in

54 m m er o . ci t . 2 Zi , p p . 4 . 55 M e er L ea r n n i n I r e l a n d 1 y , i g , p . 3 . 56 o ce P . W . 0 5. ci t . I 1 2 . J y , , 1 . , p . 4 57 H e a l oh n 0 5. ci t . 2 2 2 y , J , 3 p p . 7 , 73 . 58 Tu r n er Wm Ca tlzol i c Un ver s t B u ll e t n I I I , i i y i , X . , p . 8 1 3 8 , 9 07 . 59 Ro er 0 5. c t . M . i 1 g , , 1 p . 3 4 . ’ GO Eu bli sh e d i n M n e P a tr ol o za L a t n a To m u s 1 2 ig , g i , , 4 Al cu m z E s tola U s sh er S ll o e E i s to a l 1 8 . fl , 3 ; , y g , fi , 90 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH O OLS

” 61 t learning , or equal to him in sanctity . In his

letter , which is of a very cordial nature , Alcuin styles Colchu his holy father and speaks of himself

as his son . The writer complains that for some time past he was not deemed worthy to receive any o f in those letters so precious his sight , and con cludes by saying he is sending a messenger with presents from himself and King Charles (Charle magne) to Clonmacnoise and other Irish monas 62 teri D r . e s . Healy points out that some of these gifts are o f such a nature as to suggest that Alcuin had a personal knowledge of the needs of Irish 63 monasteries .

No doubt , further research would reveal many other instances of foreign students who sought in Ireland and there were freely given the education

which was not available in their own lands . In summarising the conclusions which we believe are justified by the facts presented in this chapter we would say

1 . That both the monastic schools and the bardic schools were so intimately connected with the native Irish social system that they were not antagoni stic

but rather complementary to each other .

2 . That these two clas ses of schools exerted a mutual influe nce of each other : the aim of the

61 D c t on a r o N a t on a l Bi o r a c Arti cle on Col chu i i y f i g fl y , b T T n 2 . 0 . h o m a r L 2 . s e X . 60 y ( O p ) , , p p 59 , 2 D ct o a r h n o N a t o a . t n l B o r a XL foe ci . . 2 i i y f i i g p y , , p p 50. 2 62 65 — Hea l o h n . ci t . 2 o 2 2 . y , J , p p p . 7 73

9 2 THE EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C S CH OOLS more was the influence of the bands of Irish missionaries who , as we have es tablished Western and whose love of learning was equalled only z their eal for Christianity . CHAPTER V

CENTRES OF I NTELLECTUAL LI FE I N I RI SH M ONASTERI ES

s o f IN an Irish monastic school , as in the ca e every of other school , the most important centre intel o ur lectual life was the classroom . Unlike modern s schools , however , these school had to produce

n - a s o n their o w text books . This work w carried

‘ in a special room called the s criptorium . The work

” o f the scriptorium was not limited to the production

‘ f - o f o text books . Often valuable books more permanent interest were written in the scriptorium for and stored reference in a special room , the library . In this way copies of many of the most treasured books of antiquity have been preserved s o f for po terity . Indeed the educational work the scriptorium and the library was scarcely less im

of - portant than that the class room , or school f proper . Thes e three centres o intellectual life s sufii were clo ely related to each other , but each is c ientl y important to warrant a separate treatment .

93 94 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C sc1 1 00L5

THE SCHOOL

In the last chapter we stated that the aim of the

monastic school was frankly religious . In our next chapter we hope to prove that in practice thi s did rri u not necessarily mean a narrow c u cul m . Here we shall briefly state that the particulars we have been able to glean o n a miscellan eous collection of

topics are of some interest to the educationist . The data are so few o n each topic that the treatment is

necessarily somewhat disconnected . In general s the e topics refer to school age , accommodation of s s student , school buildings , method of teaching and pedagogical principle s so far as they are revealed

in the meagre materials to hand . Seven years was the age at which it was thought 1 schooling should begin . We do not know exactly what provision wa s made for young boys of this

tender age , but we know that in case of the older s tudents a few resided in the school itself , so it is possible that the younger children also resided in a the school or in the houses of the teachers . M ny o f the students lived in the hou ses o f peo ple in the neighbourhood of the school , but the majority lived in huts which they built fo r themselves near the s chool . Where the s chool was a large o ne these 2 s hut were arranged in streets . The poorer

1 P lu m m e r Ch a r l e ta a cto r u m H ber n a s V e S n I . , , i i i , , p .

x v d . c . o W o c a l t r I r l . 0 ; ce P . . S H s o o e a n I . J y , , i i y f , , p 4 4 2 Sto ke s h tle L v es o th e Sa n ts r o m ti re B oo k o f , W i y , i f i f L ar m o r e 1 , p . 73 .

96 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C 5 c11 00Ls

’ ‘ i t his tutor s home . Somet mes the alphabe was 7 l 111 engraved upon a large stone . The Psa ms Latin seem to have been the earliest subject of in 8 struction . As we have seen these were learned by rote , but judging by the numerous glosses and annotations9 thereon it is almost certain that the teachers were not s atisfied with mere repetition but explained the meaning thoroughly . It may seem strange that the reading of Latin should be taught before the reading of the ver nacular s The explanation is imple . The Irish alphabet is based on the Latin (as are the alphabets of most European languages) and consequently suits the phonetic system o f the Irish language les s

perfectly than it does the Latin . Having learned the alphabet the reading o f Latin is comparatively s At easy even for young tudents . a later stage when the reading of the vernacular was introduced progress wa s no doubt rapid since the student had merely to as sociate the written symbols with sounds

that were familiar to him .

The next stage was to teach writing . The letters were formed o n a waxen tablet (polai re in Irish) with a pointed metal style One of

6 Sto k es l i t . h t e o . c 1 2 W . . , i y , p p 7 7 f e t . f r i ll str a tm n o Se o e P 0 5 . c o u i I . c W . J y . . , 1 , 439 l ph a be t e n g r a ved o n a la r g e s ton e i n Ki lm ake d a r i n Co . a( e r ry . 8 P lu m e i t m t h a r le o . c . I . C s . . , , p , p cxv 9 ee k n h esa u r us P al a e o h zbem i cus S Sto e s a d Str a ch a n , T , I — . , p p . 3 4 8 1 . 1 0 — o ce P W . o . a t . . I . 2 . 8 8 . J y , , p , p p 4 4 4 INTELLECTUAL LI FE IN I RI SH M ONASTERI ES 97

the se o ld- time tablets is now in the National 1 1

s D . Mu eum , ublin The writing on it is in Latin , ’ apparently a pupil s clas s notes . Joyce think s that there were no elementary books fo r teaching Latin and that the pupil had to face the diffi cultie s of the language in a rough and ready 1 2 manner , beginning right away at the author . With

this view we do not agree . There are still extant s s s o n numerous vocabularie , paradigms , treati e ’ o f Pris cian s declensions , and several copies gram m atical tract all in the style o f writing practis ed by

Irish scribes . In such works we have clear evi dence of preparations made to smooth the path fo r beginners . Our view is in harmony with the maxim laid down in the eighth century gloss It is the custom with good teachers (dagfo r citlidi) to praise the understanding of their pupils that they m ay love ” 1 3 ' wh t the hear a y . There is a s imilar reminder in “ another eighth century gloss . This quotation is interesting as showing that oral teaching wa s practised , that good teaching was appreciated , that the methods of good teachers were commended for imitation and further that the learning process was s to be as pleasant as pos ible . It would be a mis take to imagine that the desire to make learning

1 1 Co fi e eo r e u d _ y , e to Cel t c An t q u t es of ti re . . G g , G i i i i i CI ms tza n P er zo d s ee 1 llu str a ti o n , , p . 9 9 . 1 2 o ce P i t . W . o . c . y , , I . . 8 . J f , p 4 3 1 3 ’ St kes a n d Str a ch an Tlzes a u m s P a l a o h zb i c s o , e em u , I . ,

. 6 Z rm m er H o s . l s a e H i ber i a p 5 7 ; n e . 6 No te . , , G , p 9 , 7 1 4 Stoke s an d r n St a ch a o . ci t . I , p . , p . 5 1 6 . ( D 498) 98 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C S CH O OLS

attractive began and ended with the carving of

alphabets on cakes . In the same connection we may refer to the practice of many emi: ent teachers who were wont to compose educational poems em bodying the leading facts of history and other f s branches o instruction . A con iderable number

of compositions in old Irish M SS . are of this class . These poems were explained and commented upon

by their authors and learned by rote by the pupils . Flann of Monasterboice followed this plan and we still have several o f his educational poems on 1 5 historical subjects . There is a curious geographical poem1 6 forming a s ort of text - book on general geography which was u s ed in the school of Ros - Ailithir in Cork of which the author M a c Co s se was Principal (Fer l leighinn ) . This poem contained practically al that was then known of the principal countries of

the world . It was written about the beginning of

the tenth century . The tenth century map of the world drawn in England for an Anglo - Saxon is sup 1 m rtist posed to have been the work of an Irish a . Although inaccurate in many particulars this map is historically interesting as showing the state of

geographical knowledge at this time .

1 5 t o ce P . W . o . ci . 0 . J y , , p p . 44 1 6 B o o k o L e s ter Ra w o l n s 2 . n 1 n M . B . 0 . S f i , p 5 ; i 5 , p 77 e dite d by Ku n o M eyer ; —r o ce ed i n g : o / th e R oyal I n s Aca d m e y 1 88 . 2 1 2 2 e di te d a n d tr a ns la te d b , 3 , p p 9 5 , y T o m u V h a l n R u e e l t e 2 . s d e c te d b ev C . . 1 O ; i y iq , , p 9 1 61; a l e r M u i r e d a ch Abbot o l o m a c M ca st R . A . S C n i , , / n o zse . Se e M a o n P la te I . o o s te . 1 2 . p , pp i p

1 00 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS clear evidence of preparation for the work of teaching . It is worthy of note that in the earlier stages of instruction the pupil was encouraged to ask ques tions about the diffi cultie s which he encountered and the tutor wa s expected to explain everything At a that was ob s cure to the learner . a later st ge the learner was questioned to test whether he had of grasped the meaning what he read , and to raise 20 t s difficul ie s which he wa required to explain . In fact the instruction would seem to have been thorough and in many respects wa s at least equal efficienc if in y , not in technique , to that imparted h in many of o ur modern schools . We are told t at it wa s the special merit of the tutor who obtained the degree known as Sra th- do - aill that he was able to modify his ins truction to the complexion of the information in mercy to the people who were unable to follow the instruction of a teacher of higher degree . In other words he was able to make hard things easy to weak students who might get frightened in the presence of the formidable This would show that the question of ” individual differences was a live one in peda go gic al circles in those days and that a genuine wa s in attempt made to solve it . When we come a later chapter to discuss the characteristics of the groups o f figure s represented on the sculptured

80 — P 0 o e 5 t . c . W . . ci I . . 0 1 . J y , , 1 , pp 43 4 3 21 o P o . i t c e . W . c . I . . 2 . J y , , p , p 43 INTELLECTUAL LI FE IN I RI SH M ONASTERI ES I O I crosses we shall see that the value o f visual ” instru ction was appreciated .

THE SCRI PTO RI UM The function of the scriptorium was to supply‘

- text books for the school , service books for the of church and monastic community , and works a for more general and ambitious nature the library; Our knowledge of the i nternal life of the scriptorium is unfortunately very limited and is deduced almo s t entirely from an examination of the M SS . produced wa s therein . It would seem that the scriptorium

- not unlike a modern school room in s ome respects . In silence the younger members o f the monastic community and other students sat there writing o ut and multiplying books , sometimes from dictation , s An in ili at r ometimes by copying . v g o sat there als o to preserve silence and to act as task master Ou the margins of the M SS : we sometimes find o f short fragmentary notes devoid literary value , but of deep human interest as showing that unre generate human nature had its opportunities even in a monastic scriptorium as much a s in a modern “ - s s school room . The e notes are upposed to be

‘ fragments of conversations carried o n s o tto vo c e to evade the rule of silence and doubtlessly notes were scribbled surreptitiously to companions . Though

21 8' Se e M a ca l s er M u i r d a ch 6 fo r a co l t , R . A . S . , e , p . 5 , . i lect1 on o f th ese r a m e n a r a r n a f g t y m gi lia . 1 02 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHO OLS all too few these vivid human touches add not a little to our knowledge of student life in those far ff o days . The scribes made all the writing m aterials

s . w tablet , vellum , ink , pens We have sho n that ax t e w a bl ts were used in teaching writing . They were also used in teaching reading , and for such temporary purposes as taking notes of a sermon or 22 Ada n n lecture . m a writing in the seventh century mentions that he inscribed certain writings first on ” wax tablets and afterwards on vellum . For s la te a nd encil memoranda a p were also used , as we n l learn from the s tory of Cin fae a the Learned . of Dre cain When he was at the school Tuaim , now w a Co . w Tom Reg n in Cavan , he rote do n roughly o n i slates what he heard during the day , but at n ght 24 he transferred the entries into a vellum book . These tablets were made of long strips of wood and s covered with beeswax . In hape they were some times like short swords . The s chools prepared their own vellum or parch

o f . ment from the skins goats , sheep , and calves finel This parchment was usually y polished , but Th e sometimes it was hard and no t well cleaned . parchment prepared by the Irish scribes was much thicker than that used by the French from the seventh to the tenth century : thus we have an

22 o e P . o . bi t . I c W . . 8 . J y , , p , 4 3 23 Re e v d a m v W A n a n e a i . e s m . P r ce l , , , f , ii 24 t d I . 8 . An c e n La w: o I r el a n I I . i f , , p 9

1 04 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C s c11 0 01. s

” 2m s O Stokes . birds . This is al o the pinion of Miss One o f the pictures in the Bo o k of Kells con

firms .

this view This , is a picture representing t S . John the Evangelist engaged in writing the H Gospel . e holds a pen in his hand the feather 28 of which can be clearly detected . The inkstand i s also represented by a slender conical cup fastened to the corner of the chair on which he is sitting or upon a stick stuck in the ground . The old scribes sometimes wrote with the bo ok res ting upon the knees using a flat board for sup port . But when writing became more elaborate s was and ornamental a de k used and , if necessary , 29 s a maulstick to support the wri t .

THE SCRI BE l l In almos t every monastery there was at least one e s pecially expert s cribe who wa s s elected partly s his becau e of his scholarship , and partly because of s kill in penmanship . Outside of the time set apart fo r religious exercis es the scribe devoted almost hi s whole time to the work o f copying and multiplying A books . t a time when there were no printed books we can easily imagine the important part played by

the scribe in the educational life of the monastery .

27 Ke lle r Fer d n a n s u , d , Ul ter J o r n a l o Ar ch aeol o Old . i f gy , Se n e s VI I I . 2 , , p . 2 2 . 273 Sto ke s , M a r a r e t E a r l Ch r s t a n I r el a n d le i x Ar t c . g , y i i , i 28 ’ Se e Abbo t s R e r o d u ct o n o th e B o o k o K ell s la te p i f f , P '

v . l xxxi ; a s o r e ?r o d u ce d 1 11 Si r Ar th u r Su ll1 v a n 5 B o o k o f K el l s D es cr ibe d 29 o c e P . W . o . i c t . I , . . 8 llu r a i y , p 0 st t o n . 8 1 . J , p 4 , i i , 4 INTELLECTUAL LI FE IN I RI SH M ONASTERI ES 1 05

Not only did the scribes produce the necessary books for class use , but by their indefatigable industry they preserved those valuable relics of the — past a large mass of historical records and numerous s pecimens o f the literature of ancient s a s time . To copy a book w considered a highly of meritorious work , especially if it were a part the o r Scriptures , or any other book on sacred devo 30 tio nal subjects . The scribe was therefore highly , honoured . The Brehon Laws prescribed the same penalty fo r the murder o f a scribe as fo r that of an 31 o ut abbot or bishop and , as we pointed , the Annals in recording the death of a man otherwise learned s or eminent whether bishop , abbot , prie t , or lay professor considered it an enchancement o f his dignity to add that he .was an excellent scribe , ' s cri bhneozr to cc hai he Fo ur M asters d . The record the obits of 6 1 eminent scribes before the year 900

A . D f . o 0 D . whom 4 lived between 700 and 800 A . f One has only to glance at some o the MSS . that have come down to u s to realis e what excellent pen s men these ancient cribes were . Such skill could s As only be acquired after year of careful training . will be shown later the scribe was an accomplished a s artist well as an expert penman .

1 11 1 5 11 SCRI PT

The Irish style o f writing played an important part in development no t only of the modern Irish 30 — o ce P . o . W . ci t . I . . 8 . J y , , p , p p 4 77 47 31 Se e Ch a er t I I I . a l so F o u r M a s ter s I a s s m p ; , . , p i . 1 06 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

r s d hand , but of the style of w iting practi e for centuries in England and to some extent on the i f Continent also , hence the necessity of giv ng a brie account of its history There is little doubt that Ireland modelled her national script on the Roman

l - ha f uncial hand , but , as Reeves has pointed out , the Greek and Roman letters as written by the Irish scribes mutually afie cted each other and gave the

Irish alphabet , especially in the capitals that peculiar 32 form which distinguishes it from all others . The

- th e Roman half uncial hand , however , was basis s s from which the characteri tic Iri h had developed . “ “ In the words of a recognised authority , The Irish s cribe adopted the Roman half - uncial script and then with his own innate sense of beauty o f form he produced from it the handsome literary hand which culminated in the native half - uncial writing as seen in perfection in the Bo o k ofK ells and contemporary f . o M SS of the latter part the seventh century . But the round half- uncial hand thus formed was too elaborate for the ordinary uses of life It was necessary to produce a script that would serve all the duties of a current hand . Therefore , taking the Roman half - uncial hand the Irish scribe adapted it to commoner uses , and writing the letters more negligently he evolved the compact , pointed minus cule hand which be came the current form of hand

39 - 1 1 Reeves m Ad a m n a n r e a ce . . . W . P , , , f , p p xxi xx 35 a n d L a t n Stu d es Ar t cle o n S s . E Co m a n o n a , J p i i i , i— 1 P a l a e o r a y b Si r E d wa r d M a u e Th o m so n . 80 8 . g p y y p , p p 7 7

1 08 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS important of these studies are those made by ”5 Keller and The work of these s cholars has placed the question o f the influence of the Irish style of writing beyond dispute . England borrowed it en blo c ; and in the Early Middle Ages the Irish missionaries who spread over the continent o f Europe and who became the founders of religious houses carried their native script with them and taught it to their pupils . Thus Wfirzbur in such centres as Luxeuil in France , g in t S . in Germany , Gall Switzerland , and Bobbio in

flo urishe d . Italy , Irish writing and M S S in the Irish first f hand multiplied . At there was no di ference n between the writing in these M SS . and that i the

Irish codices actually written in Ireland . But as might be expected the s cript thus employed in isolated foreign places gradually deteriorated as the bonds with the native hand relaxed and the Irish ff ” 37 monks died o . From these M SS . written in the characteristic Irish script we are able to form o ne some idea , though an inadequate , of the magni tude and importance of the work done by the Irish monks in preserving the ancient classics . More S s S . over , in addition to tho e M described as Sco ttic e Sc ri ta e p by continental librarians , Zimm r

35 Ke lle r F B ld e a d ch i tzu e i 1 1 n . r n S r Z u r ch 8 E ; , i / g , 5 , g l sh t r a n s la ti o n Uls ter o u r n a l o Ar che ol o l 1 r i J f gy, p p 2 1 0—2 9 1 . 36 L n d e E a r I r s h M us cu e cr t x o rd s W . M l n l S i y , y i i ip , O f ,

1 9 1 0 .

37 Sa n d s E Co m a n o n 0 La t tu d es . n S . 2 1 8 . y , J p i / i i , p INTELLECTUAL LI FE I N I RI SH M ONASTERI ES 1 09

has shown that many o f the M SS . ostensibly the work of the continental scholars are in reality the ”8 work of Irish m o nks s The explanation i s that those monk s who studied o n the Continent tried as far a s poss ible to accu stom themselves to the forms o f the letters used by continental scholars . For

instance , this is the case of all the documents

Written by Mo engal at St . Gall between the years — D 39 853 860 A. .

LI BRARI ES An important feature o f every monastic school tec h s cr e tm a s s was the library , or p , it is tyled in o f the older Irish M SS . When we recall the fame s of these schools , the need the students , and the number of scribes who se business it was to cater to these needs we might reasonably infer that thes e libraries were provided with text - books and with ‘ difie re d book s for general reading . These libraries

Wi dely from our modern libraries . There were no s s s o f wa s helve for row books , but there another arrangement which wa s more suitable fo r the type s o f book then in u e . The books were kept in

satchels hung o n pegs o r racks round the room . Each satchel containing o ne or more volumes was s labelled o n the outside . The satchel were of embossed leather beautifully adorned with designs

38 m m er H I r s h E l e m en t i n M ed e va l Cu l tu r e — Zi , i i , p p . 1 2 1 1 2 4 . 39 . i t . m m er H o c . 1 2 0 . Zi , fi p 1 1 0 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C S CHOOLS

o i . ! interlaced ornament so common in Irish art Many specimens of the se satchel s are o n view in

s D the National Mu eum , ublin , and there is one in

Corpus Christi College , Oxford These satchels were also used when carrying a book from place to

place .

The book itself was of parchment . Manuscripts which were greatly valued wer e u sually kept in elaborately embos sed leather covers of which two o f Bo o k o are still preserved , namely , the cover the f 41 “ Arm a h f t M aid c . o S . o g , and that the Shrine of Books abounded in Ireland when the Danes made their appearance there about the end of the eighth century hence the pride with which the old writers ” s f referred to the host o the books of Erin . But with the fir st Danish incursions began an era of burning and pillaging the monasteries and c o nse

quently a woeful destruction of M SS . , the records

of the ancient learning . The special fury of the invaders appears to have been directed against

. books , monasteries , and monuments of religion All the book s they could lay hands upon they either th burn ed or drowned by throwing them into e s a . nearest river , or l ke For two centuries thi

wanton destruction continued , and ceased only

I r l a n d . 2 0 . 40 l E le a n o r E a r ly Ch r i s ti a n e , p 7 Hu l , ,

88 . i t I . 41 W . o . e . . o yce P . , p 4 , p J , 0 m a 42 fi e eo r e G m d e to th e An tsq u mes of Chn n Co y , G g ,

ee llu s tr a t o n . 0 . I r el a n d . S i i , p 5

1 1 2 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

“7 l t Pavia . This catalogue itse f is strong objec ive evidence for the claim we are making that the s s clas ical authors were read . The li t of M S S . s s l hows that both Greek and Latin cla sics , were wel h nd s represented . Among others we work by the : V l following authors Terence , Lucretius , irgi ,

Ovid , Lucian , Martial , j uvenal , Claudian , Cicero ,

Seneca , and the Elder Pliny also Persius , “9 D s s Fla ccu s . , Horace , emo thene , and Aristotle The greater part o f the Bobbio collection has s been disper ed through the libraries of Rome , 50 s V . Milan , Naple , and ienna It is practically s certain that the Ambro ian palimpsest of Plautus. ’ and those of s everal o f Cicero s orations and of the letters of Fronto discovered in the Ambrosian Library (Milan) early in the ninth century all came from the monastery founded by the Irish monk of “51 Bobbio . Among other M SS . which once belonged to Bobbio may be mentioned fragm ents of Sym m a chu s (in Milan) and the Theo dosian Code v t (formerly in Turin) , Scholia on Cicero ( . cen ury) t —vi t . S v . . S . M SS of . Luke ( cent ) , Severinus ’ i i Dia v s v . ( . j osephu ( Gregory s ’

c . t logue ( 750) and S . Isadore s (before Last

4 ' 7 i x t i th A e n es . Sto kes M a r a r e t . S M o n hs n e pf m , p p — , g 2 96 7 . 43 i t a n r o . . H l Ele o San dys . E . o c . I . . ul , J , p , p 4 53 ; , , p ci t . p . 2 7 2 . 49 I h E m e t i M edi wva l u l tu re m m er r s l e n n C . Zi , H i , p

£50 t . . i . a n B o c I . S dys , J . . , p . , p 4 54 51 d . San d s . B . b y , J , i i INTELLECTUAL L I FE IN I RI SH M ONASTERI ES 1 1 3 but not least we must mention the Muratori ” s Fragment (viii . cent . , or earlier) , the earlie t 52 extant list o f Books of the New Testament . f t Co lumbanu s S . t A iliu s St . o S . g ( Aile) , a pupil of first o f the founder Bobbio , was abbot the R e sba cu s e monastery founded at (R bais , east of 53 in D . Paris) in 634 A. The M SS copied there of V cluded the works Terence , Cicero , irgil , 54

D s . Horace , onatus , Priscian and Boethiu The libraries of the Irish monasteries of Wurz burg and Reichau s eem to have been large and s important . Many exi ting Irish M SS . come from s ld s . o these two mona terie Unfortunately , no catalogue of the Wfir zburg collection seems to have s f Re ichu come down to u s . In the ca e o (Augia Major) on Lake Constance a catalogue was made rl l E eba d a s 2 2 8 A D . while w abbot between 8 and 83 . f 1 The number o M SS . given in this catalogue is 4 5 ’ 55 of rl ld s which 30 were written in E eba time . o f e i Important though the collections R ba s , Wii rzburg and Reichau undoubtedly were they are overshadowed by the greater fame of Bobbio . Indeed there is only o ne library that could compare with Bobbio either fo r the extent o r the value of its

. a s f t w o S . MSS , and that the library Gall or San allen z s g in Swit erland . This great mona tery

52 I bid . 3 ’ 3 3 3 V ta Co l u m ba z , n . 2 6 c ted San d s o . ci t . i , p , i y , fi I 5122 54 Sa n d s B y . b d . , J . , i i 55 Hu ll E l ean o r E a r l Ch r s t a I l a d , n r e n . 2 . , y i i , p 74 ( D 498) THE R S A 1 1 4. EARLY I I H M ON STI C SCH OOLS

i St . n Cellach was founded by Gall ( Irish ) , the Columbanus St . the pupil and companion of , about 1 2 D year of 6 A . . In the ninth century the library St of . Gall possessed 533 volumes , nine of them 56 being palimpsests . This library was famous t during the Middle Ages . The Fathers who a tended the Council of Constance depended mainly

for reference on the valuable M SS . in this library

to which they had free access and , sad to relate ,

1 A. D when the Council broke up in 1 4 8 . many of these holy men neglected to return these valuable ” old theological works in Latin and Greek . This 105 5 same library came to another two years earlier , 1 1 6 a in 4 , when Poggio , the Florentine schol r , with two learned friends who had been engaged at the

i t . Counc l visited S . Gall Having a season of leisure they made a search for some missing vol

i al r . umes of Cicero , L vy , and other classic write s

Nor were they disappo inted . Among other precious tomes they discovered the well - kno wn Ar o nautic on on g of Flac s , copies of eight of ’ Cicero s orations with valuable commenta ries by As conius Pedianu s s , the work of the Roman V s s architect itruvius , al o the works of Pri cian , of L Quintilian , of ucretius , and of other great 5° scholars . “ H l u l i t . , Ele a n or , op c p . ” m m t e r ca . 1 1 6 . Zi , p . i 53 Sa n d to o Cl a ss ca l Sch ol a rs h p, l s . H s r y , J i y f i P 4 5 5

tu r e . 58 m m e r H I r s h El e m en t M e d e va l Cul , p Zi , . , i i 2 6 1 1 6 Hu ll E lea n o r E a r l Ch r s t a n I r el a n d p . 7 ; , , y i i ,

1 1 6 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C 5 011 001 5

L1 5 1 59 0 11 L BRAR E C TA H I I S ON INING M SS . WIT 1 11 1 5 11 GLOSSES 1 11 1311 11 0 11 NOT LATER THAN END 0 11 NINTH 0 11 BEGINNING 011 TENTH CENTURY

1 D . Trinity College Library , ublin . f 2 . o Library the Franciscan Monastery , D ublin . D 3 . Royal Irish Academy , ublin .

4 . British Museum , London .

5 . Lambert Library , South London .

6 . University Library , Cambridge , England .

7 . Corpus Christi College , Cambridge . ’

t . 8 . S . John s College , Cambridge x 9 . Bodleian Library , O ford , England .

1 0 . . Bibliotheque Nationale , Paris

1 1 . . Library of Nancy

2 . 1 . Library of Cambray

1 s . 3 . Univer ity Library , Leyden

Wii r zbur . 1 . s 4 Univer ity Library , g

- 1 . 5 . Hof und Landesbibliothek , Carlsruhe

1 6 . . Royal Library , Munich

1 o f . 7 . Library of the Monastery Engelberg ’

t K s . 1 r S . 8 . Libra y of Paul s lo ter in Carinthia

D s . 1 . 9 Royal Library , re den

Schaflausen . 2 0 . Stadtbibliothek ,

2 1 V . . Royal Library , ienna

t sbi lio thek St . . 2 2 . S if b , Gall

t dbiblio thek . 2 . S a 3 , Berne

59 h esa ur us P al a eo hi bem i cus See Stokes a n d Str a ch a n , T , — - I . . v I . I . . x . x x . . . i , p p iii i , p p x xxv INTELLECTUAL LI FE IN I RI SH M ONASTERI ES 1 1 7

Ambrosian Library , Milan .

V . atican Library , Rome

University Library , Turin . z Biblioteca Na ionale , Turin .

Laurentian Library , Florence .

These numerous and valuable M SS . that have come down to us are in themselves the mo s t con vincing evidence of the zeal o f the Irish monks for the promotion and tran smission of clas sical learn in s g . There can be little doubt that these Iri h scholars under the most adverse circumstances fostered learning during the dark ages that pre ceded the Renaissance and , as we have seen , when the great awakening came one of the sources from which the treasures of classical antiquity emerged were the monastic libraries that contained the M S S . o r e copied , pres rved , with loving care by Irish s s scribe and scholar . In this chapter we have endeavoured to show how the zeal for learning which inspired the teacher in the class - room was carried into the scriptorium s how the cribes with patient industry copied , and so transmitted , the relics of classical antiquity and how these relics were preserved to the afterworld co n in the great monastic libraries . The direct tribution made by the Irish monk s of the Early Middle Ages to contemporary education will be s tudied in the next chapter . Here we would emphasis e the fact that the full significance of the 1 1 8 TH E 1 11 1 5 11 M AST C s c1 1 0 0 s EARLY ON I 1. Irish monastic schools as an educational factor not be understood unless we realize the importance a s contribu of the combined , as well the separate , tion of these three great of activity , the school , the scriptorium and

1 2 0 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

i 1 D scholars , he has comp led two Tables of egrees r and Subjects of Study . In the fi s t he gives the courses of study for Monastic and Bardic Schools n s in parallel colum s . This cour e appears to have been carefully graded and extends over a period of s if twelve years . The econd table is quite d ferent fir t from the s . It is designated the Seven ” r Grades or Orders of Wisdom . The forme scheme would seem to have the students in view while the latter h as reference mainly to the pro fe s so rs or teachers of whom three o f the lower

o r s s s . s grades , order , were themselve learner Thi shows that in the Irish school s the functions of teaching and learning were closely related , and it often happened that the same person was at one time under instruction of the professors in the grades above him while at another time he was employed in teaching junior scholars . From an examination of these two schemes we feel j ustified in drawing the following conclusions

1 . That the scheme of education was carefully graduated and extended over a period of several s 2 6 in a e year , probably from 7 to years the c s of monas tic students and from 7 to 30 years for lay students .

2 . The lay or bardic studies were limited originally to native secular learning .

1 to o I r el a n d I So c a l H s r . . 0 o ce P . W J y , i i y f , , p p 43 CO URSE OF STUDI ES 1 2 1

3 . That the monastic course included both s secular and religious studie , that both Latin and the vernacular were used as a medium of instru o

tion , and that the study of native literature was not

neglected . That in the monastic s chool special attention wa s given to the study of the Sacred Scriptures s both the Old and the New Te tament .

5 . That there would appear to have been more rote memory work in the Bardic than in the

Monastic school .

6 . That there was frequent questioning and explanation in the Monastic school . D 7 . That the degree of Ollamh or octor was reserved for those whos e learning was profound . That this great scholar wa s entitled to the highest honour : when he visited the palace he had the privilege of sitting in the banqueting - house with the king . While we believe the above conclusions fully s o f s warranted , we confes that many the terms u ed in both schemes are either so vague or s o obscure that we do not feel s atisfied that an adequate idea of the course of study in the Irish monastic schools can be derived from this s ource We propo se to ’ s Dr upplement . Joyce s helpful but rather meagre account by many additional facts which have been gleaned from an examination o f the acknowledged works of Irish writers of this period and such 1 2 2 THE EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C SCHOOLS references as are met with in the works of other writers . We hope to show that the curriculum was a o c mparatively broad one , including not only the study o f the Sacred Scriptures with the co mmen taries of the Greek and Latin Fathers , but also the study o f the pagan authors of Greece and Rome . Nor was the study of the Irish language and literature neglected . Science in the modern sense of the word was unknown , but as regards the Geography , Computation , and Astronomy Irish Monastic Schools were quite as far advanced as any in Europe and certainly far At in i ahead of their neighbours . least the n nth century philosophy and dialectic were eagerly studied . We shall have a word to say about the flo urished Irish school of church music . Art too , especially the illumination of manuscripts , various

- ornamental forms of metal work and stone carving . No doubt the primary aim o f the Irish monastic school was the teaching and study of Christian theology , but just as Christianity itself did not mean the abolition but rather the fulfilment of Hebrew s in ideals and traditions , so when Chri tianity was tro duce d into Ireland where an ancient native culture was flo uri shing the new culture did not dis place the old but rather combined with it to form a new type of culture which in cours e of time be came at once both Irish and Christian . In the s chools everything that was not absolutely opposed

1 2 4 TH E EARLY I RI S H M O NASTI C SCH OOLS tures was an additional and perhaps more powerful incentive to the Irish monk to make himself familiar s with the classical form of Greek and Latin . If this is a correct interpretation of the educa tio nal s ituation confronting the Irish monastic schools—and the evidence we shall produce is over whelming—then we shall see how unwarranted is ” the s tatement of a recent writer that the learning

f s - —o the Iri h was wholly psalm singing and theology not the classics ; and that the m aiom s tudia — referred to by Bede meant the Scriptures , not s philo ophy and literature .

STUDY O F TH E SCRI PTURES

We admit that the Scriptures were the great , but 4 As by no means the only , subject of study . early as the fifth century the Irish poet Se dulius wrote his Carm en P as c ale in which he recounts the chief events of the Old and New Testament giving u s ” 5 first the Christian epic worthy of the name . 6 Bo o k o The Psalms were learned by rote . The f Arm agh written by an Iris h scribe and finishe d in

D . 807 A . contains the only complete copy of the New Tes tament which has come down from the 7 days of the Celtic Church The Old Testament

5 Lea ch Th ch o M d va a A . F e S o ls o e e l E n l d . n 8 . , , f i g , p . 4 4 i — H e a n o . t . ly , oh c . 2 02 2 0 o ce P . W o . J , p p p 4 ; J y . f

a t . I 2 . , p . 4 3 . 6 Si e r so n eo r e B a r d s o th e G a el a n d Ca ll g , G g , f , 4 5 . 6 ee a bo ve Ch a te r I I I S p . 7 — H ea l oh n o . ci t . 1 2 0 1 2 . y , J , fi 3 CO URSE O F STUDI ES 1 2 5 must have been well known judging from the many , existing fragment s with glo s s es and scholia thereon 8 o f no t to s in the handwriting Irish scribes , peak of f Ail ran s d 66 commentaries like that o e The Wi e ( . 5 9 D s A. . ) and innumerable Scriptural reference in the religious literature o f Ireland which is written both in the Gaelic and Latin languages Indeed s o famous were the Irish monastic s chools for Scrip tural s tudies that one o f the causes which drew s s oi foreigners to the Irish chools was the pro pect . 5 0 reading the Sacred Writings in the M SS . abundantly furnished through the untiring industry of the Irish scribes . Among the more noteworthy s A ilbert visitors who came for this purpo e was g , f o 6 0 A . D . a native Gaul , who came in 5 to Ireland where he sojourned some time and read the ” 1 0 n s of Scriptures . O hi return he became bishop s the West Saxons , and later occupied the epi copal 1 1 s e e f s s o Paris . The Angle Egbert al o pent some time in Ireland as an exile fo r Christ that he ” 1 2 might study the Scriptures . ! The religious education of the Irish monastery was not co nfined to the singing of hymns and the s s s d recitation of p alms as h a been as erted . Indee such exercises formed but a minor part in the

3 Sto ke s a n hi b i cu s d Str a ch a n Th es a u r u s P a la eo em I . — , , , . 1 82 p p 4 . 9 M 1 n e P a tr o l o a L a t a 2 To m u s 8 . n 0 . 8 g , gi i , , , p 3 1 0 B e d e H s to r c: E c cl es i a s l i ca en t s An l om m L ber , i i G i g , i I I I Ch . , . 7 . ’ 1 1 Ro er L E n s i m t e en t d es L e tr es Cl a ss u es . 2 . g , g iq , p 7 5 1 2 B e d o . e ci t . I I I . , fi , 4 . 1 2 6 1 11 11 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHO O LS

monastic scheme . The monks had advanced be yond this elementary stage long before they came ” to the larger schools . The sacred reading co n “ sisted in the study and interpretation of the Bible . Their aim was to search for the spiritual sense and

message of the great Book . The higher criticism n of these days was then unknown . The i vestiga tion of the question of more or less enlightening i dates , the details regarding natural life and env ron s s ment , as well as que tions of authorship , the hi tory i s of part cular books , as also all discu sion of linguistic and literary form were matters that were s I nter retatio wi ely left to later times . In the p 1 5 mystica progenito m m Chris ti of Aileran we have an interesting example of a style of commentary which must have been ' u sual in the Irish schools of

Aile ran St . the seventh century . quotes not only t s Jerome and S . Augu tine but what is more remarkable he cites Origen , the great genius of the

Alexandrine school as well as Philo , the Alexandrine “ Aileran as the j ew . w not the only Irish monk of seventh century who showed ability and diligence in i x research . We have a still more str king e ample u i d Cummian in the case of C mm an Fada ( . flo urishe d during the years of the Paschal contro d vers . . D y About the year 630 A . a National Syno wa s held to dis cus s the advi s ibility of adopting the

1 3 Ro e r o t ci . 2 2 . . 8 . g , fi p 1 4 Ro e r b d . g , i i 1 5 e e o t S N e 4 1 a bo ve . 1 6 H a e l h n o . ci t . 2 o . 0 . y , J , p p 7

" 1 2 8 1 11 11 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

STUDY O F TH E LATIN CLASSI CAL AUTHO RS

We have three sources o f evidence that the writ ings of the gr eat classical writers were not neglected

a s has sometimes been asserted . These sources : 1 s of are , the numerous work classical authors which have been copied and pres erved in the Irish s f St monastic libraries e pecially those o . Gall in z 2 Swit erland and Bobbio in Italy ; , the marginal n a and interlinear glosses o various M SS . earlier th n

the tenth century 3 , the quotations and imitations o f classical writers which are revealed by s tudy of

the actual writing o f early Irish mediae val writers . In the section o f Chapter V dealing with Irish libraries we discussed fu lly the first source of evi dence and pointed o ut the influence of these a libraries in late medi eval times . In more than one instance we had occasion to refer to the glosses as exemplifymg different phases of intellectual activity

in the Irish monastic school . Here we would emphasise the fact that these gloss es furnish an other objective proof that the Irish monks stu died and taught the class ic s a s well as the writings of is the Fathers . There considerable variety in the

glos ses . Generally they are in the nature of explanations written u sually in Irish o r Latin but

occasionally in Greek . They consist mainly of

explanations of obscure passages . They give s a variou historical , mythological , and arch eological

s . n de finitions detail They contai , translations of COURSE OF STUDI ES 1 2 9

of individual words , free translations idiomatic expressions , illustrations of the correct use of cer tain words , a summary of the observations of previous commentators and an elucidation of

’ obscure allusions . In short they contain all that varied and supplementary matter which is essential when making an intensive study of a diffi cult book . Thes e notes were at once grammatical and encyclo 20 pae dic . A good example of this kind o f work occurs in the Co dex S ang allens is containing one of the many ’ copies of Pris cian s Grammar which were written by Irish scribes . Traube has shown that it was written by some of the friends of Sedulius (of Liege) and suppo s es that it was copied in s ome Irish monastery and brought by wandering Irish f men to the Continent . The text is in di ferent s t hands . The glo ses o o are in different hands s At from tho e which wrote the Latin text . least three different hands are distinguished The authorities relied upon by the glossators are Iso do re Origen , , j erome , Augustine , Gregory , Prim a s ciu s Vir iliu s s Hilary , , g , Ambro ius , Boethius , Cas sianus D s G au dentiu s , iony ius , Thrax , , Baeda , Ora s ciu s s , Cicero (not the orator , but an ob cure La tantius grammarian) , Hieronymus , c , Maxi 21 Pa irinus Polibiu s mianus , p , , Medicus , and Probus .

20 R evu e Ce l t u e . 2 2 6 Fo r e x . m q . a le f i , XIV , p p s o l o s s e s be lo n n to th e s ev en th e h th a n d n n th c en u r e s g gi g , ig i t i ’ ' ’ s ee Sto kes a n d Str a ch a n s Th es a u m s P a l a eoh zber c s m u , 2 vo l . 21 Stokes an d Stra ch an 0 5. ci t. I , I . . xxi i . 1 . 1 , p p i , 4 5 ( D498) K 1 30 1 11 11 EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 1 1 011 4 5 1 1 0 5 01 1 001 5 The very fact of being familiar with such an array of grammarians and au—thors is enough to justify D . Se dulius (at Liege 840 860 A . ) in describing himself and his fellow - countrymen as do cti gmm 22 m at f ici . One o them wrote a treatise on the Art 23 V i Tra c tus de M etric a Ratio ne of ersif cation , , which Zimmer styles a grammatical treatise of “ d 8 2 6 A . D importance . Clement (d . ) who succeede Alcuin as Instructor to the Imperial Court of Charles 25 m a is ter alatinus a d the Great , g p as he was c lle , wrote a grammatical work26 which is famous for its erudition and for the wide range of reading which his it shows , especially interesting is reference to the Greeks who are our masters in all branches of ” 27 learning . Thes e grammatical treatises were much more than books o n formal grammar . They dealt with the principles of rhetoric and the art of versifi cation and when enriched by commentaries they mu st have occupied a prominent place in the educa tio nal literature of their o wn as well as of the s ucceeding centuries for we should remember that in those days scholars were inclined to supplement — 22 u Th u rn e s en Rev u e Cel t e I . , . 6 4 . y , iq , V p p 33 3 7

z~5 t m m le r i n N eue : o ci . 6 2 Dti Z im m e r , H . , , r u d m e i 1 11 1 121 P o l ch a r i i Ar : M etr ca , Ar ch e I . 2 8 . n i , V , 5 i V n n e a 1 88 . i , 3 24 i t . . c 6 . m m er H . o . Zi , , p p 3 25 i t . 0 . Ofi . c p . 5 26 m m a t c La t n Le s c 1 8 I P u bl sh e d Ke l . r a , 57 , i , i G i i i i, ip i p xix . 27 Ca th o l c Un ver s t B ull e t n , W m . 1 1d . Tu rn e r b , , i i i y i

I I I . . 2 . X , p 39

1 32 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS of correct texts This naturally led to a careful study of orthography and the production of treatises on grammar in the broad sense in which we have s first i e define d the term . Po sibly at the rud m nts

ss Mr . of grammar were all that was nece ary , but as 31 ’ l e mulatio n éé Roger so aptly remarks , cr e par ’ l ex ansion du et la p monachisme , la hardiesse ’ é le de sir d a ro cher curiosit naturelles des Irlandes , pp de plus em plus la pensée divine e n penetrant le sen s ’ ’ ’ d Ecriture le l étude n était , gout pour qui pas une é em Irlande entraint au nouveaut , les dela de ces s element . Thus having surmounted preliminary difficultie s it was but natural that they whose literary taste had been developed by the study of their ver na cular literature should not hesitate to study the s clas ical authors . There was no fear of the return o f paganism ; to the Irish the Greek and Latin s deitie made no appeal . As they were not likely to s a crific e their faith to pagan rhetoric there was no neces s ity to c o nfine them selves to ru s tic Latin as was the custom with the early Christians on the Continent who were daily drawing farther and farther away from correct classical forms . Hence a p rio ri there are many reas on s why we should expect to h nd traces of the classics in the writings s of the Irish monks . Thi view is confirm ed by an actual analysis of the existing works of writers of this period .

’ 31 Ro e r M L E n s ei n m en t d es Leth e: Cl a s s ues g , g iq , p . COURSE OF STUDI ES 1 33 In the case of the prose works which we have mentioned the more or less technical nature of the subject did not afford scope for the cultivation of a s clas sical style . What was es ential was a lucid exposition o f the thought - content expressed in

clear , correct , intelligible language and this they 32 undoubtedly possessed .

' ! With poetry , however , the case was different Here naturally enough we find clear traces of influence s the of the cla sical poets , and even in the prose of Irish scholars this same influence is often V noticeable . irgil in particular would appear to

have been a special favourite . In this connection it is significant to find Old Irish seventh century glosses o n the scholia of Iunius Philargyrius o n the “ 2 — V Adamnan 6 0 A. D . Bucolics . ( 4 7 4 ) knew irgil Vita Sancti Co lum ba e well . In his , as Reeves has r pointed out , the e is clear evidence that he was ‘4 familiar with the G eorgics fi Roger has found traces of both the Georgics and the Aeneid as well 35 s as allusions to the authors Plautus and Suetoniu . Indeed it has been rigorously establis hed that the extracts from Philargyrius already referred to are 56 o f Ada n the work no other than m an himself .

32 R0 er M . o . ci t . g , . 2 62 H ea l , h n o . ci t . p o . 2 y . p ; , , p p 37 33 J Sto ke s a n d Str a h a n c o . ci t . I , p . . x x . II . . ii . — , p iii , , p xv , 1 46 4 8 ; Th u r n e s en e ts ch r y , ft fu r Ce l ti s ch e t l o l o i e { Z i i g , 9I . . 5 2 , p , s e q . 34 Ree ves Wm , . Ad a m n a n 1 1 , , p p . 4 , 40, 1 9 2 , 2 2 9 . 3 5 Ro er M o . . i t . , c . 2 62 g , p p . 36 R o er . — M . o . , ci t . . 2 62 tn e p o o o t s . g p p 3 , f 1 34 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

emoir k Mu irchu M s o St . Patric who wrote the f , in obedience to the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty V d D . A. ( . 698 ) was inspired by irgil and perhaps by 37 lumbanus — 1 Appolonius of Rhodes . Co (540 6 5

D . i fi re A . ) was in many ways the most str king gu

of his time . We have referred to the success of his ”B missionary works As a classical scholar he was He no less remarkable . did not arrive on the Con “ tine nt until he was fifty years old and as his life there was filled with missionary work his scholar ship must be considered as representative of the Bangor school where he spent so many years of his life as a student and a teacher Columbanu s arrived in Gaul about twenty years before the death o f s a s i e Gregory of Tour . But , a distingu sh d suffic ient French author remarks , it is to glance at the writings of Co lumbanus to recognise immedi ately their marvellous superiority over those of 39 - He Gregory , or of the Gallo Romans of his time . wrote an ode in Adonic verse which abounds in apt 40 s s clas ical allu ions . In his poetry he imitated or

” i t x i v to kes Sto ke s a n d Str a ch a n o . c . II . , . . ; S , , p p

Wh tle Tr a r t te L e o St . P a tr ck . 2 6 ; Ro er , i y , ip i if f i , p 9 g

L e . 2 M . , p . 66 . 39 h a . I C p I I . 5Btl-Stu d es Du bl n Se tem be r 1 1 8 fo r an a rt cle by i ( i ) , p , 9 , i a t Co lu m ba n wa s th rt ea rs An br e G wy n n a r u in g th St . i y e n e le a n o r W e h o we ve r h a v e a cce te th e o ld w h t . f g , , p L e o te n ta tiv e) ch r o n o lo y o f He le n C o n can n o n wh o se if f

en u bl 1 sh e d . ( t . Co l u m ba n i s th e i e st th a t h a s be p ’ 39 v d Arbo i s Li tter a tu r e Cel t ue I D e u ba n lle H . q , J i i , , i p . 3 73 . — 40 i er son o . De uba n v lle o . ci t . I . . ; S , p J i i , p , p p 3 73 37 5 g ci t . p . 4 07 .

1 36 1 11 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M O NASTI C 5 011 0 0Ls

45 V Cado c s familiar with irgil ; while , a tudent of “6 V i . Lismore , is said to have known irg l by rote We might give many more instances showing the continuity o f Irish classical scholarship during the

sixth , seventh and eighth centuries , but enough have been given to appreciate the tribute of Kerr 47 when he says : The Latin education in Ireland began earlier and was better maintained than in s other countrie . The English and Teutonic nations

received instruction from the Irish , and that not only at the beginning of their studies Iri sh leam ing did not exhaus t itself in missionary work and was not merged in the progres s o f its German pupils ; it kept its vivifying power through many e the generations , and repeated in the ninth c ntury of fifth good works the , again contributing fresh material and a s till rarer spirit of inquiry to the

common erudition of the Continent . That the classical learning carried back into Gaul by the Irish monks did not immediately pro duce any very encouraging results can be largely accounted for by the disturbed social conditions . The rivalries and weakness of the Merovingian kings prolonged the period of disorder and violence . 48 Besides , according to Jonas , the negligence of the

45 R i t o er M . o . c . 2 60 . g , , p p . 46 No la n Th o m a s P I r s h Un v er s t es a n d Cu ltur e , i i i i , 1 p . 3 . 47 K r T e W . P h e D a r k A s e . 1 , g , p 3 9 . ° 48 o n a s V1 ta Co l m b u a t . e J , n i i n Kru sch S cr p . r ef M em , . i

. . 1 Ci te d b e . t Ro r o ci . 1 , ; . 1 . IV p 7 y g , p p 4 00 011 5 2 OF 5 1 11 0 1 2 5 1 37 bishops consequent on the troubled situation was as culpable as the frequency of wars for the decay of s of religion . Hence the activities the Irish monk were naturally directed partly at least into other channels in trying to bring about a reform in the 49 : Tand morals of the people . To quote Roger ifi s s erenité um que aint Benoit trace , avec , plan com plet de la vie monastique , saint Columban oppose co rrum é a la violence des vices , dans une societe p , la violence dans la penitence ; il trace nu plan ’ d att aqu e 011 ii met toute la fouge de son caractere . La vertu de la religion était pres que abolie ; il ’ s effo r c e de la ranimer et de rendre a la foi ’ ’ ’ l e ffi ca cité qu elle avait perdue . Under the enlightened policy o f Charlemagne there was a distinct improvement in the social con dition of the people , but the part played by the Irish monks during the seventh and eighth centuries in helping to bring about the moral regeneration of the people must not be overlooked ; fo r even though this aspect of thei r work lies outs ide o ur present study , we cannot completely ignore those social factors which delayed the realization o f a literary renaissance until the ninth century . Whether or not the efforts of Charlemagne resulted in a revival o f learning far more im portant in its cons equences than that which is ” known as the Renaissance 50 it can no longer be

49 R o e r M . o , . ci t . 1 2 g , p p . 4 . 1 0 Tu rn er Wm . Ar t cl e I r h { , , s Tea ch er s the Ca r oli n g i a n i ' i R evw a l 1 11 Ca th o l i c Un w er s zt B u ll e t n I I I . . 8 . y i , X , p 3 7 1 38 1 11 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C 5 01 1 00L5

questioned that during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate successors the chief share of the literary revival which belongs to that period and is known as the Carolingian Renaissance fell to the

Irish teachers in Frankland , and if we except Rhabanus Fre de is Alcuin , and g , the men who founded that educational system to which the latter Middle Ages owe everything and the modern world more than it generally acknowledges were Irish ” 51 men .

STUDY OF GREEK IN EARLY M EDI E VAL I RELAN D

Having shown that there was an unbroken tradition of classical Latin learning in early medi ae val s Ireland , having examined the cope and character of that learning and noted its influen ce in the history of European education , we may fittingly examine the position which Greek occupied Th e in the curriculum of Irish monastic schools . traditional belief that the study of Gree k was pur sued in these schools cannot be accepted without investigation in view of the doubts raised by such M s scholars as anitius , Roger , and Espo ito in

51 Tu rn e r o t Th s a rt cle b W m . . ci I I I 8 . , , p X 3 9 i i y

Tu rn er i n th e Ca th o l w Un w er s i t 1d 2e ti rz I I I . 2 8 y X . pp 3 s e n l n tn hu tl o n to q . a d 56 s e q . i s b fa r th e m o s t h e fiu co th e s tu d 0 a r in n v va l v a lu able a rr a o f y th e C o gia Re i . k y fa cts i s given an d th e sou r ce s for fu r th er 111 q a r e p o m ted o u t .

1 40 1 1 1 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C 5 011 001 5

ings of Irish scholars who flouri shed during the e sixth , seventh and eighth centuries reveal d s numerou quotations from , and reminiscences of a classical Latin authors , thus we had incontest ble evidence o f an intimate acquaintance with classical

Latin . In studying Greek the aim was not , as in

case of Latin , to acquire a new medium of expres

sion , consequently its study would be conducted on f s di ferent lines . The nece sity for such a knowledge s r exi ted nevertheless . The g eat object of study 54 c r being the Scriptures , the aim of the whole ou se of study was to prepare men ’ s minds for the “ Lectio Divina their one great science to which all the

9ther disciplinas were but auxiliaries . It is therefore but reasonable to suppose that the Irish

monks were impelled towards a study of Greek , a knowledge of which wa s so neces sary in studying an the Scriptures . This view is corroborated by s D examination of native Irish source . Thus allan Fo r al o f o lm cill g in his eulogy C e (composed c . 576 ” At aill r ammatai t a is says g g g grcic , h t , ” 65 he taught Greek Grammar . The early glos saries swarm with Greek words quoted for “6 etymological purposes . The hymns in the An tipho na ry of Bangor contains numerous Greek

54 Ro er kes i ta h s v e o . c t . 2 cf u u d t w 2 . G o a g i i p p . 9 ; g .

Do m . L es Ch r e t1 en te: Cel h u es 2 1 q , p . 5 55 Am r a Co l u i m C ll e i n th e I n sh L ber H m n o m m i i y — , e d 1 ted b B e rn a r d a n k n n 1 2 —1 80 d At so I . 6 8 0 y i , , 3 , 5 , 2 2 — 3 3 5 . 56 M e e r Ku n L ea r i e a d o n n n I r l n . 2 6 . y , , i g , p CO URSE OF STUDI ES 1 4 1

5" words . / Indeed , the charms of the Greek language had such a fas cination fo r Irish writers that many of them had developed a pedantic turn as early as 58 the s eventh century . Zimmer has pointed o ut the Greek of the se early writers was no t merely 59 ’ bookish learning but a living speech . Meyer s tabulation of the peculiarities in the transcription o f Greek a s practised by Irish writers confirm s the ’ ” accuracy of Zimmer s observation . We are informed that a Greek taught M o sinu M ac Cuimin “ f ” 60 K the art o computation . eller gives numerous 61 - examples o f Hiberno Greek characters . In an ’ M Adamnan s Vita S d h oti eighth century S . of Co lum ba e there are many instance s which sugge s t that the Greek and Roman characters , as written s s f by the Iri h scribe , mutually a fected each other and gave the Irish alphabet es pecially in the capitals that peculiar character which distinguishes 62 ‘ Bo o k o Arm a h it from all others . In the f g 80 A D written about 7 . . there are several Greek ’ words and the Lord s Prayer is written in Greek

57 Ree ve s Wm Ad a m a n , n , p . 1 58 . 53 Re eve s W m . , ibid 9 ’ Si tm n s ben ch te o f th e o a l a em i g R y Ac d y o f Ber l n , 1 0 9 9 , 21 p 5 . 598 : M e er K n u o o . ci t . y , . 2 . , p p 7 60 No te i n a Wii r zbu r M S o f e h g . ig th cen tu r y q u ote d by 2 1 m m er 1 11 P el a zus i n I r el a n d g , p . 5 . 61 Kel ler F . B ld er 11 n d S ch r i ts zu e i n d en r c , , i f g i is h en M a n u s er i ten i n M t p i teil u g en d es a n tiq u a r is ch e n G es ell s ch a i t m u r i ch I I 6 1 Z , . ‘ 6ifi Re e v e s Ad a W . m 11 a 1 1 I V , , J p p X XV 0 x x x an d P lates

I . II . I I I . , 1 4 2 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OOLS

63 ’ c characters . In the glosses on Pris ian s Grammar Greek words and phrases are explained by Irish equivalents and we note a familiarity with the rules “ o f Greek grammar . The most remarkable evi 65 dence is that of Aldhelm who in a letter to Eahfrid fresh from the Irish schools finds fault with him for having gone to the didasculi Argivi of that country instead of s taying in England where Theo 66 dore of Tarsus and Hadrian o f Nisida had intro du ed s s i nific n c Greek tudies . It is g a t that this letter of Aldhelm ’ s abounds in Hellenisms to a his greater extent than any of his other writings , object being apparently to impress Eahfrid with the

Greek learning to be obtained in England . We have referred to a common practice of the

s s viz . Iri h monk , , the making of marginal and inter s s linear glo es in which were explained Latin , Greek and even s ometime s Hebrew words and expre ssions s t by Irish equivalent . They als o compiled lis s of Irish words which were cons idered diffi cult or obsolete at the time the glosses were written . These words were explained by giving their more modern equivalents . Frequently the mean ing was given in Latin and Greek also . The ’ “7 most famou s glosses of this class are Cormac s

3 Stokes a n d Str a ch a n Th esa u rus P al a eoh i bem i cus I I 9 , , w p . x . 64 to kes a n r ach an o . ci t . S d St , p p p . 1 59 , 1 58, 1 69 . ' 65 Ald h l m x e m Se e le s e O . . Gi , fi , p 9 4 66 B e d e o . ci t . L ber . Ch . I . , p i IV , 67 k h tle Th r ee I r sh l as s Ed . Sto e s s e Lo n d on , W i y , i G , ,

1 44 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHO OLS

u Fathers Jerome , Aug stine and Gregory , just as a century later Sco ttus Eriugena was charged with being inclined too much to the Greek Fathers and 75 with under - rating the Latin Fathers In the

M S . library of Laon there is a — written by an Irish 0 A D M S . scribe between the years 85 900 . . This contains two glossaries in the Greek and Latin languages with occas ional pas sages in the Irish " s s language It al o contain a Greek grammar . It is believed that the H er m eneum a ta o f the Pse udo Do sitheu s s , a text u ed by Roman boys in studying a s o f s o l Greek , as well the work Macrobiu were n y s aved for the afterworld because they were used by 75 the Irish . The interlinear Latin versions of Greek “ of texts are exclusively Irish origin . In the department of Biblical study Zimmer recalls two St important examples the Gospel Codex of . Gallen wr itten in Greek with a Latin translation and Bo erneria nu s no w D h the Codex , in resden , whic St contains the Epistles of . Paul in Greek together with an interlinear Latin version . Both belong to ” the ninth century . Thes e various examples of a knowledge of Greek ss s it and of the nece ary material for teaching , such a s , s s grammars paradigms , vocabularie and glosse ,

73 M o n u m t en a G er m a n i a e Hi s tor i a e E s to lae I I I , pi , . , p . ° 74 Floo d . M r el . J I a n d : 1 11 S a n ts a n d 5 1 1 01 4 7 1 2 i , p . 9 . 75 Tr u be L 0 Ro m a N o bl i s , . 6 1 a , p .

77 mm e r o . i t c . . 1 2 Zi , p p 6 . 00 011 5 2 02 5 1 0 11 1 2 5 1 45 as well as interlinear translations clearly point to the conclusion that Greek wa s taught in the Irish monastic schools o f the seventh and eighth cen tu o ur ” ries . In next chapter when we come to of examine the scope Irish scholarship , the knowl edge of Greek will be so evident in the case of the s Seduliu s o f great ninth century cholars like Liege , D o f ungal of Pavia , Clement the successor Alcuin at the Palace School and Sco ttus Eriugena that it is unnecessary to dis cus s the matter further at s pre ent . The question as to where these scholars go t their clas sical training can be answered best by saying that they go t it in the monastic schools of Ireland where we have shown that the clas sical tradition was unbroken from at least as early as the 78 s o r two . ixth century , possibly a century earlier “ De Jubainville declares that in the ninth century the Irish s cholar s were the only persons in Western 79 s Europe who knew Greek . Traube claim that in the time of Charles the Bald at least the Irish were the sole representatives o f Greek s cholarship r they could ead and write Greek , they could

s it . tran cribe , nay , they even ventured occasionally ’ ’ 8° a to m ke Greek verses . Anyone who in the time of Charles the Bald was credited with a knowledge o f wa s s Greek , according to Traube , an Iri hman ,

78 Fo r u r th er d eta ls se e Tr au be L 0 R o m a N o bli s f i , ,

. 6 1 . Al so N o r d en D i e A t k K n ts r os a p n e u . 666 No te 1 . , i p , p , ’ 79 D e b n u a v lle H d Arb i o . ci t . . o s I . . . J i i , , p , p 397 80 Tr a u be 0 R o m a N o bli s 2 . 8 . , L , p 7 ( 0 489) 1 46 1 1 1 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 1 1 0 11 4 5 1 1 0 5 01 1 001 5

o r had learned it from an Irishman , or his reputation tn s fr fi for Greek cholarship was a aud . It is signi cant that the copy of the work o f Dionysius the K Areopagite , which Pope Paul had presented to ing fo r s n Pippin had to wait an Iri hman , Johan es Sco ttus Eriu ena g , to translate it for Charles the 82 Bald . That a knowledge of Greek was indispensable for a s tudy of the Scriptures would in itself be sufficient to account for the study of Greek in the Irish s mona tic schools . A further reason for the Irish love o f Greek has been suggested by several s M ichlet s . Le writer say genie Celtique , qui ’ est celui de l individualité s ympathisement profond ” 93 s ment avec le genie grec . A we have pointed o ut s , the Greek views in philo ophy and theology appealed in an especial manner to Irish scholars of this period . According to Healy , the Irish mind , like the Greek , has a natural love for

- speculation , is quick , subtle , and far seeing , has greater power of abstraction and generali zation s that is , greater metaphy ical power than the ” - 84 phlegmatic Anglo Saxon . We venture no opinion a s to whether this proposition will s tand a critical examination but would merely record the

31 Of th e n o n - I r sh o f th e t m e o n l E r c o f Au x err e i i y i , Ch r st a n o f Sta ve lo t th e W a la fr i d kn e w r eek Tr a u be i i , G , , i t o . c . p p . 6 5 . 82 Co n ca n n o n He le n L e o S t . Co l u m ba n . 2 8 . , , if f , p 7 83 M i ch le t H s to r e d e F r a n ce I . . 1 2 1 . , i i , p 84 I r h ccl es i a s ti ca l Re cor d 1 880 H ea ly o h n Ar t . i n s , . , J , i 1 p . 6 .

1 48 1 1 1 2 EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C 5 011 001 5 It was this feature which arrested the attention of Benedict o f Aniave and aroused his dislike for the

s . s Iri h theologians They were di tinguished , he u s s m stifi c ati n o . tells , for syllogi tic y Apud modernos s chola stico s maxime apud Sc o tto s iste ” 88 s s s delu si nis u s yllogi mu o . Mullinger tells that they would s ometimes amuse them selves by interro s s o f gating ome tolid representative orthodoxy , and a s o f his compel him a logical sequence replies , to admit the existence o f three Gods o r to disavow his 89 s belief in the Trinity . Thi typically national characteri stic o f adding a humorous touch to a profoun d but dry metaphysical di s cu ssi on has for u s wa s a deep human interest , though it undoubtedly embarrassing to learned and s olemn opponents who s could neither understand , nor ympathise with , the rather s ubtle and complex Irish temperament . It ha s al s o been remarked that this tendency to s peculation led the Iri sh to admire the work of Martianus Capella who se volume wa s a sealed book to the s chool o f York ; while in the three grea t

s s o f St . mona terie Luxeuil , Gall , and Bobbio nu merous M SS . in the original Irish character (Scottice s cripta) o f Origen and other Greek Fathers remained to atte st the more inquiring spirit in which the s tudies o f their communities were pur

n s his s s his l sued . Tha k to Greek tudie and natura

88 c te d b M u ll n e r , B a lu ze M s ce l l a n ea V . . 54 , y , i , , p i i g

t . . c i 1 1 . o p p . 9 89 M u ll n e r o . ci t . . 1 1 . i g , p p 9 COURSE OF STUDI ES 1 49 mental attitude the Irish Theologian became a better 90 astronomer as well a s a better dialectician .

M USI C

Mus ic constituted an important element in Irish

culture both in pagan and in Christian times . H cta teu s e , the great geographer quoted by Dio do rus 15 firs t , the who mentions the name Celt and he describes the Celts o f Ireland as singing s ongs in praise of Apollo and playing melodiously n s o the harp ( 0 . 500 Native Iri h literature abounds in reference to music and musicians who were always spoken o f in terms of the highest

s . re pect Everywhere through these ancient records , we find evidence that the Irish people both high and lo w s s were pas ionately fond of mu ic . It entered into their daily lives and formed a part o f their ” amusements and celebrations of every kind . Zeuss in his G ramm a tic a Celtica ( 1 853) wa s the first to give the key to the nature o f the musical

instruments used in ancient Ireland . The references to music given by Zeuss were taken from gloss es

6 A . D 0 . A D . dating from 5 to 900 . and written by ’ ” ” of St O Curr the Irish monks . Gall . y , Joyce , 95 o f and Flood have followed up the work Zeuss , so

90 M u l n l e r . i g , ibid 91 Fl o o d W m . H . r a tta n H s to r 0 I r sh M u s c , G , i y / i i , p . 4 . 92 o c e i P . c t . I W . . . 1 . J y , , , p 57 ’ 3 O Cu r r E u en e M a n n er s a n d Cu s to m s o th e An c en t y , g , f i I n :13 94 o ce P . o c a H s to r o I e a d . W . S l r l n J y , , i i y f 1 50 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHO OLS we have now a fairly clear idea of the state of mus ical culture during the period under inves tiga of f tion . Flood gives the names twelve di ferent in struments in use and o f nine profes sional names 96 s i nificance of the performers . It is not without g that the harp is the national symbol . There are references to the harp in Irish literature probably ” ’ fift Curr a s as early as the h century . O y w so impressed with the many evidences he found of a high degree of musical culture that he could not He restrain his enthusiasm . says If ever there wa s a people gifted with a mu sical soul and sens ibility in a higher degree than another I would venture to assert that the Ancient G aedhil of Ireland l ” 98 were that pe0p e . The monks were no exception to their fellow s s countrymen in their love of mu ic , con equently in Christian time s music was intimately connected with ’9 public wo rship f In the early ages of the Church many of the Irish ecclesiastics took delight in play ing the harp and in order to indulge this inn ocent and re fining taste they were wont to take with them a small portable harp when going from place to 1 °° place . Figures of men playing the harp are a common on the stone crosses seen at Graig , Ull rd ,

95 Flo d n t o W . H r a t a H s o r o I h M c . . t r s us , G , i y f i i 96 Flo d o m . r a a n o . i t W H . tt ) c . 2 0 . , G , z p . 97 o ce P . o . i t W . c . I l F o o o . i t . d W . c . H . . 1 0 . J y , , p ; , , p p 93 u o te d i n I r sh E ccl s a s t ca l R co r d Q e e 1 88 . 1 0 . i i i , 3 , p 5 9 Ke ller F . Uls ter o ur n a l o Ar ch e o l o VI I , , J f gy, I p . 2 1 § 1 00 o ce P 0 i t . . W . c I . . 2 J y , , 2 . p 57 .

1 5 2 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCH OO LS

Irish s aint Cellach whos e name has been latinised s o r t Gallu Gall . S . Gall was a student of the monas te r o f in D Co . n y Bangor ( own , Irela d) and the friend and pupil of Columban whom be accompanied t . A. D . to the Continent When S . Gall died in 645 the fame o f his music s chool had s pread far and 1 05

. l 8 0 A . D . M o en a near In the year 7 g , another s o f u Iri hman , was appointed headmaster the M sic of St School . Gall and under his rule it became ” 1 °6 M oe n al the wonder and delight of Europe . g laboured for ten years o n behalf of the school . It should be added that M o engal was also learned in s r i theology and ecular sciences . E at in d vinas ” 1 °7 e t hum anis e ru ditis s m musi c i us . The copying of became such a feature of the work done at St . Gall that the s cribes o f this monastery supplied all Germany with manuscript books of the Gregorian ” 1 08 Mo en al Chant , all beautifully illuminated . g gave music its highes t place amongst the arts and s St n the chool of . Gall reached its highest perfecti o ’ o f M o e n al s Rat e rt No tker under three g pupils , p , 1 °9 ’ Tu til and o o . In Zimmer s opinions there were very few men who exercised each a be neficent in flue nce over Germany in the ninth century as did M o engal and his

1 05 i Flo o d o . t . c 2 . , W . H . G . , p p . 1 1 06 i m m e r o . c t . H . . . Zi , , p p 73 1 07 b d . m m er H . Zi , , i i 1 08 M a tth ew H s to r o M us c c te d b Floo d o . ci t . , i y f i , i y , p 1 p . 5 . 1 09 o . i t . 6 m e r H . c . m . Zi , , p p 7 1 1 ° i t . H o . c . . m m er . Zi , , p p 7 7 COURSE O F STUDI ES 1 53

Tuath al D . M o engal wa s succeeded in 890 A . by Tuo tilo s Tutilo (latinised and sometime ) , his pupil

- l 1 Tuo ti o d . and fellow countryman . ( 9 5 was even more famous than his master and was not s only a killed musician but was famed as a poet , orator , painter , goldsmith , builder and sculptor . We are told that he was a skilled performer o n the ru it e Schubi er c and psaltery . P re g published many r e til s o f the t op s composed by Tu o o . Flood a sures u s that two o f these H o di e Cantan da s and Om nipo tens G enator betray the well - known char 1 1 1 a c teristic s s Tu otilo of Irish mu ic . also composed K ri e F011 5 B o natatis the famous farced y , , included f 1 1 2 in the Vatican collection o Kyriale . ’ Another famous pupil of M o eng al s was Notker o r No tker Balbulus the author o f a valuable c olle c tion o f hymns known as Li ber Ym no rum No tkeri s No tker which was illuminated by an Irish arti t . s n f t shed undying lu tre o the school o S . Gall and n was o e o i. the most celebrated musicians o f the ” s Middle Age . S t . Gall was not the only monastery o f Irish origin in which the study o f mus ic wa s pursued with

s . influence of succes Indeed , the musical the Irish monks was felt over the whole west o f Europe s s no t wherever their monasteries were e tabli hed ,

1 1 1 Fl d 0 . t . W . ci 1 oo , H . G . 9 p . 5 . 1 1 2 Fl o o d H r l I r sh u s i i n l o r s o W . . A t c e M c e , G i i G i f I r el a n d , p . 7 1 . 1 1 3 i i Sch u b er D e Sa n e r s ch u l e St . a ll en Fl o o d g , G , p . 33 ; , Vi H s — . ta o I M us c r r s . 1 6 1 o ce P W . y f i i , p p 9 ; J y , . , o a t ; 573 . 1 54 THE EARLY I RISH M ONASTI C S C H OO LS only in Ireland and Scotland but also throughout o f m a large part England , France , Belgiu , Ger 1 1 4 many , Italy and Austria . Hymnologists are more or less familiar with the e al a hymns composed by Irish poets such as S d i s , D M o en al Se chnall ungal and g , and by saints like , M olaise Cu chuimne t Columba , , , Columban , Ul an , Cummian Fiac c Brodan Colman , , Aengus , , , 1 1 5 e a M elisu San t n and o . Thus did the Irish monks both by their teaching and by their writings promote the cultivation of

music in a very practical way . Nor was the theo re tic al f D nnchadh o . o aspect music neglected , an u o Irish bishop of the ninth cent ry , who died abb t of

Remigius , wrote a commentary on the work of

- Martianus Capella , a well known volume on the ” s s s Liberal Art , a section of which treat of mu ic . s o f The greate t his contemporaries , Johannes Sco ttus Eriu ena s g , in his famous philo ophical work D Divis ne a e e io N tum A D . 86 . , written in 7 expounds o rg anum or dis c ant a hundred years before the appearance of S ako lia Enc hiri a dis and M us ica ’ 1 1 6 Enc hzria He dzls . also wrote a commentary on M ar tian a l us C pe la which is now in a Paris M S . of 11 7 the ninth century .

1 1 4 Fl d le s h M us c i n l o r es o o H . Ar c I r o W . t , G i i i G i f I r e l a n d , p 7 x. 1 15 e e be r H m n o m m b Atk n so n a n d Be rn ar d S zi y cd . y i ; a l o 71:6 “ :q P a l a e o h i be i cus I s Sto ke s a n d Str a ch a n , m , . ,

2 9 s s e q . 1 1 6 l o r s 0 I r e l a n d 2 Fl . r t . i n e . . H . G A o o d W . , , p , G ’ i 1 1? t o u u e r Tu rn e r Wm . Hw or Pi l os o . 2 . (é y , , y f fi y , p 4 7 I s th i s th e sa m e o r a diffe r en t co m m en ta fr o m th a t r e fer r ed to by a n d a ttr ibu ted to Bish o p D o nn ch a by Floo d

1 56 THE EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C s cn o o r s

In the first chapter it was pointed out that there was a native art in Ireland before the introduction of Christianity and that the pagan Irish exhibited considerable artistic skill in their

bronze , silver , gold , and enamel work as the s pecimens s till preserved in our museums go

/ / to prove . From the pagan period we have s numerou torques , gorgets , lunulae and other

articles of personal adornment . These show that the pagan artis t po s s essed both skill and taste 1 1 9 ' in a high degree . The character of the arts introduced into Ireland with Christianity was there fore grafted upon and m o difie d by the native arts while new variations in design were introduced from the Continent by missionaries and foreign artists s in that came to Ireland . Thu art as practised early Christian Ireland wa s no s lavish imitation of foreign art but rather a development of native art whose progress was upward from the introduction o f Christianity in the fourth and fifth century until f 1 20 the Norman invasion in the twel th .

CHARACTERI STI CS O F I RISH ART The chief characteris tics of Irish art are

1 . A symmetrical interlacement of a band or s f n band into a variety o patter s . 2 . The graceful divergence o f lines into trumpet s form .

1 1 9 Se e Co f e G eo e B r ont e A e i n I r el a n d Pla tes I I f y , 3 , v VI I I i x a n . . ¥ d . 8 0 VII . , pp 4 , 4g , 5 . 12° Ke n a e t M c n aih s E . Ri h t I r sh Ar , J ( g i , p . 7 . CO URSE OF STUDI ES 1 57

of o ne or fine 3 . The coiling two very lines into mysterious spiral s a lengthened examination of which has a weirdly fascinating effect o n the eye . fo r o f 4 . A total disregard the comforts animal s life , the bodies and members being twi ted and dis f s to rte d to suit the convenience o the arti t . fi ure 5 . The human g is frequently introduced , but it is subjected to the rigidity of the curved lines noticeable in the interla cings and s piral s . Herein o rna m enta l Irish art , which is primarily , differs

is r e res e ntative . from classic art , which p The Irish artis t aimed at symmetry and hence the right side of the face is generally a reproduction o f the left .

6 . In nearly all the art o f the period under co n n s o r sideratio the ground is divided into panel , — geometrical compartments an arrangement where e o n by the artist wh ther working vellum , metal , leather o r s tone was free to introduce any of the foregoing characteri stic s without marring the bar 1 21 of s mony and uniformity the de ign . Irish art attained its highest excellence in four n o f branches , namely , writing and illuminatio s s s a manu cript , metal work and tone carving . In previous chapter were dis cu s sed the characteristics of the Irish style of handwriting and the part played by the monastic s chool s in its development so we pas s o n to consider the other three departments of art work .

1 21 M cKe n n a a m e t B o . c . s . i 3 , J , p p p . , 9 I LLUM INATION Shortly after the Irish monks became skilled penmen they began to illuminate their books with brilliant colours which they learned to combine into elaborate and harmonious designs . This art rea ched its most perfect stage of development at the close n of the eighth or beginni g of the ninth century . The monks were wont to lavish all the wealth of their artistic skill on books containing the whole or s portion of the Holy Scriptures . As instances of Ps alter lm this style of illuminated M SS . the ofCo Cille Bo o k o Dimm a Bo o k o Arma h , the f , the f g , Bo o k o K ells and , above all , the f should be men ti ne d o . While each of these books has many merits the book which has compelled the admiration yet de fie d the imitation of every European artist is e D the B o o k of K lls . escribing this venerable volume which was written and illuminated about the ’ O Sullivan middle of the ninth century , Sir Edward 1 32 writes as follows : Its weird and commandi ng beauty ; its subdued and goldless colouring ; the bath ing intricacy of its fearless design s the clean unwavering sweep of rounded spiral ; the creeping undulations o f s erpentine form s that writhe in arti stic profusion throughout the mazes of its decorations the strong and legible minuscule of the text the quaintness of its striking portraiture the

1 ’ 22 O Su lli va n Si r E dwa r d Ti ne B o o k o Kell : Des cr bed , , , f i

Tw t o u u n x. en r P l a te: i n Col o r s n tr o du ct o . yf , I i , p

1 60 THE EARLY nu s n M ONASTI C SCH O OLS

M S place among early S . for the excellence o f their penmanship and illustrations . As showing that the Irish style of art had more than a local influ enc e the testimony of another art M r D . is n . e critic , igby Wyatt , worth quoti g H says In clo s e connection with the Irish church exi sted a s chool of art remarkable for its sense of the and fo r its i n graceful and grotesque , superiority point of ornamental design to any other style of the it influen same period . That s c e extended much farther than is generally suppo s ed would appear a certain , and not only did Scotland , Wales , Cornw ll , the North o f England and Scandinavia adopt its s o f peculiar sy tem ornament , but some of the in f M SS . the libraries o Europe are now discovered ” 125 to have emanated from this school . The colours o f the Bo o k of Kells are remarkably

well pre s erved after a lapse of o ne thousand years . 1 26 Profes s or Hartley a few years ago submitted the pigments to a careful examination and discovered the materials of which the colours are most probably He compounded . reported as follows The o r s fishbo ne black is lampblack , pos ibly black s the bright red is realgar (ar enic disulphide A 5 2 8 ) s tersu hide A S 8 the yellow , orpiment (ar enic p 2 , ) e the emerald green , malachite the deep blu s z its e c po sibly lapis la uli , but owing to transpar n y

1 25 1 . i t . . 2 0 2 u o te d b M cKe n n a a m es P . o . c , Q y , J , p p 1 26 H ar tle P r o c ee d n s 0 th e Ro a l D u bl n S o c et y , i g / y i i y, V I . N . S . , 1 885 COURSE O F STUDI ES 1 6 1

when overlying green more likely no t so The reddish purple is either finely ground glass obtained

from a solution of gold , or a preparation which was obtained by the action of a solution o f tin and was

very expensive . The other colours are neutral ” 1 27 green like burnt sienna , a pale blue , and lilac .

ART M ETAL WO RK We have referred to the fact that the pagan Irish

were skilled workmen in metal . This class of work received a new impetus with the introduction of

~ - s ex er Christianity . The pre Christian craft men cised s their skill in ornamenting shields , words ,

- sword hilts , chariots , brooches , bridles , etc . as we learn from the specimens that are preserved in o ur ”8 of museums . In addition to articles this class of the Christian artists , the majority whom were

1 29 ‘ s z ecclesiastic , made crosses , cro iers , chalices , s hrines to hold books o r relics as well as book satchels 1 3° in which both metal and leather were used . Specimens o f these may be seen in the National D 1 31 Museum , ublin . For real artistic skill the most s admired pecimens are the Ardagh Chalice , the f ”2 o . Tara Brooch , and the Cross Cong The

1 27 See I r el a n d : I n d u s tr ia l a n d Ag r i cu l tu m l p 1 2 0 fo r th e la ce s h e r h a r i l r a i n a ei n Ir e an d p w e t e s e m te a s a e obt bl . 1 28 o ce t ff B o z A . P . o . ci . 1 Co e . r n e e W . I 6 G J y , , p 5 ; y , g I llu tr i s a t on .

1 29 Stoke s m L P e tr e h a vu W e o C . . , if f i , p 1 30 o ce P ci t . I 6 1 J y , . W . , p . 5 . 1 1 — 3 o i t ce P . o . c . I 60 6 . ] y , W . , p . , p p . 5 5 3 1 32 Co f e d t A t u t es o h r s t a n I r el a nd . G . u e o n C f y , , G i iq i i f i i I llu str a t on i . (D‘QS) 1 62 TH E EARLY 1 121 5 11 M ONASTI C s c n o o r s designs and styles of ornament used by the metal workers were similar to those of the artists who t illuminated the M SS . Artistic skill in me al work was brought to its highest degree of excellence i n the tenth and eleventh centuries and continued to flo urish u until about the end of the twelfth cent ry , but gradually declined after that date owing to the general disorganization of society consequent on the 1 33 Norman invasion .

STON E CARVING The skill o f the Irish artists in stone carving is seen at its best in the great stone cross es of which n about 55 remain in difiere t parts of Ireland . One peculiarity of the Irish (o r Celtic) Cross is the circular ring round the intersections , thus binding the arms together This peculiar form was n developed in Ireland and , once developed , remai ed Of fix e d fr om the eighth to the twelfth century . the 55 great crosses 35 are richly orn amented and eight have in s criptions bearing names of persons who have been identifie d as living at various dates ”4 from 904 to 1 1 50 A. D . The crosses have a style of ornamentation similar to that of the manuscripts and of the metal work . In addition to the ornamenta tion most of the crosses have groups of figu re s representing various events

1 33 i t o . . I . . e c . 60 o c P . W . J y , p , p 5 1 34 . i t . I . 6 . W . o c . o ce P . J y , , p , p 5 7

1 64 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C s cn o o r s

found as their knowledge of the classics . We have

not found any evidence to support this view . The most that can be said in favour of the teachers of this early period is that they willingly imparted all the mathematical and s cientific knowledge of their

time . But the actual amount of such knowledge possessed by Western Europe prior to the tenth century was relatively small as compared with even the later Middle Ages not to speak of modern

times .

ARITH M ETI C Prior to the tenth century arithmetic was essen tiall f y the art o computation . It was largely s s devoted to computing Ea ter , so the term Com ” ” 1 36 putus and Arithmetic became synonymous . Apart from this practical s ide it is possible that a theoretical treatment of numbers wa s not absolutely wanting . The method o f reckoning was necessarily crude and little progre s s was po ss ible while the cumbersome Roman system of notation made com

putation with large numbers well nigh impos sible . It remains fo r further inve stigation to show whether the arithmetical knowledge o f the Irish monks ’ extended beyond the limits of Bede s De Tempo m l ” R atio na o r equalled that of the Libe r de Co m

1 36 l Th e e v L b a Ar ts Abe lso n P a u S en er l . 6 . , , i , p 4 1 37 x i n n La t P a tr ol o V l Co ] 2 Te t M e n o . 0 ig , i gy , 9 . . 94 COURSE O F STUDI ES 1 65

u’8 puto of Rabanus Maurus . Our acquaintance with source material in this field is too limited to s i nificant warrant any sweeping statement , but it is g o f the nature of arithmetical knowledge of this period and o f the lack of creative ability to find a scholar of such ability as Marianus Scottu s in the 1 259 following century basing his work on Computus o n o f Rabanus that . Indeed it was not until the introduction o f the Arabic s ystem o f notation and Hindoo methods through Arabic influence that there was much possibility o f progress in Arith f s metic . The introduction o the Arabic s y tem is 1 40

r rt 1 D . 00 A . attributed by some to G e be (d . 3 ) but it was not until the end of the twelfth century that the Hindoo - Arabic system became generally estab lish e d among mathematicians A century later 1 41 Arithmetic began to be applied to commerce . '

Alg e bra was . apparently unknown to the Irish monks during the period under investigation and was probably not introduced into Europe until the 1 42 twelfth century .

GEO M ETRY

U of G erbert p to the tenth century , the age , a knowledge o f Geometry in o ur sense of the term

1 38 Tex t i n M n e L a t n P a tr o l o V l o . 1 0 C01 66 ig , i g y, 7 , . 9

.

1 39 Se e Abe l son P au l o . ci t . , , p p . 9 0 . 1 40 Ab e l son P a u l o . ci t . . 1 0 Tu r n r m 0 H t . e W . s o , , p p ; , , i f t l . 2 , p 57 . 1 41 Ab e l son P a u l o . ci t . , , p p . 1 04 . 1 42 Abe lson P a l o i — u t . . c . 1 0 , , p p p 3 1 04 . 1 66 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

the hardly existed in Western Europe . In fact term seems to have been used in its etymological meaning and not in the sense the Greeks understood it the . We have found no evidence to warrant assumption that Euclidean Geometry was taught in those early Irish monastic schools . But on the other hand an examination of the characteristic Irish style of ornament suggests that the Irish artist had at least a good working knowledge of practical

Geometry . Possibly the amount of knowledge of theoretical Geometry did not extend beyond the 1 43 “ narrow limits of the works of Capella j Cas si 1 45 I‘G— o do ru s o f Seville l , and Isadore writers we l known to Irish scholars a s we have seen .

GEOGRAP HY If the mathematical s cience of Geometry was still s r undeveloped in the We t geography , topog aphy and cosmography made up the defi cienc y . It was s but natural that the Iri h monks , the greatest voy agers of their time , should be interested in the study of foreign lands . We have an instance of this in the cas e of Adamnan who wrote his De Lo cis Ar culfus s Sanc tis from the dictation of , a Franki h ” bishop who had visited Pale stine . Bede based ’ his work bearing a similar name on Adamnan s — 1 43 1 1 . i t . . 1 1 o . c Abe l so n , P a u l , p p 3 4 - 1 44 e n a r d t c d . . 1 2 . D e N u ti i s e tc . Ey ss p p 94 54 fi , , — 1 45 1 2 1 2 1 6 . Te x t i n M n e Vo l . 0 c . 1 2 ig 7 , — 1 46 1 1 6 . Te x t i n M n e Vo l . 82 c . 1 6 3 ig , ,

1 47 t o a t o n a l Bi o r a h Vo l . I . , p . 93 . D i c io n a r y f N i g fi y ,

1 68 THE EARLY 1 11 1 3 1 1 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS the courses of the heavenly bodies than the majority

- i us . of are to day Again , the ab lity to compute the date o f Easter was a matter of great impo rtance in ecclesiastical circles in those days . The con tro vers ies which centred around the Easter question caused many Irish monks to give special attention to practical methods of computing the date of s Ea ter . They were also led to examine the history of the different cycles in use and finally they were led to inquire into the theoretical aspect of the s cience of Astronomy . In the present chapter we referred to the famous Paschal Epis tle of Cummian Fada which showed that he was at one and the s ame time an accomplished classical scholar and an astronomer of no mean ability versed in all

astronomical literature of his time . Other great Vir iliu s Dicuil D astronomers were g , and ungal , of whom we shall have something to say in our next chapter when dealing with the scope of Irish f monastic scholarship . O all the secular sciences Astronomy was perhaps the most popular with Irish monastic scholars the superiority of whose scholar ship in this regard is acknowledged by all writers of 1 61 the early Middle Ages .

We see , then , that though the actual amount of mathematical and s cientifi c knowledge posses sed by the Irish monks was small they freely taught all

1 51 5 ee M u ll n er . B . Th e ch oo i , J , S l: of Cka r l es th e r ea t ’ , . 1 2 0 fo r lcu i n s s l l l G p , i y e x p an a tio n s o f a str o no mi ca l h en o m e p na . COURSE o r STUDI ES 1 69

that was known at the time in Western Europe and , l imited as was their educational equipment , we may safely conclude that it represented the maximum attainments in western s cientific knowledge prior to the tenth century . While we have no means o f determining the pre

cise way in which the curriculum was organised , we may safely conclude that it embraced the following groups of studies

1 Vernacular Studi es : . The Irish language , its

grammar , metrics , literature both secular and s religious , prose and poetry , history , antiquitie ,

Christ 2 . i an Studies : Theology , especially the study of the Scriptures with the commentaries of

the Fathers thereon , and in the ninth century at least the study of Dialectics and Philosophy was

' c2 pursued with su cess . C 3 . lassical Studi es : Acquaintance with several of Latin and Greek authors the classical period . Superior knowledge o f Latin and a good working

knowledge of Greek . A 4 . es thetic Stu dies : Cultivation o f Art and

Music .

1 52 Th e Ver n a cu l ar Stu d e s w ou ld n a tu r a lly be con fin e d . i ch 1 e fi to th e s ch o o l s Si tu a t i y ed n I r e la n d . It i s o s s i ble th a t th e w r y e e ta u gh t 1 11 so m e o f th e sch o o l s i n Sco t a n d a n d i n th o se s ch o o ls o n th e Co n t n en t wh ch h a d I r sh u l I t i i i p pi s . m l h t h e r em a r k g ed th a t s o m e w r iter s a ttr ibu te th e e a r ly l ter a r d ev e lo m en i y p t o f v e r n a cu l a r po e try i n No r th er n E n g l a n d to h x t e e a m pl e s et by th e I ri sh m onks i n u sin g th e ir n a ti ve ton u e for o etr g p y . 1 70 TH E EARLY I RI S H M ONASTI C SCH O OLS

5 . S cientific Studies : All the s cientific knowl s edge of the time , pecial emphasis on Computation

and Astronomy . Thus we see that the course of studies of early Irish monastic school was much more in scope and fuller in content than the Trivium Quadrivium as in contemporary

1 72 THE EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHO OLS

Vir ilius l 66—— 8 — g , bishop of Sa zburg (7 7 7 4 5

A . D . ) whose name is a latinised form of the Irish Fe ar hal name g , was one of the few men who in the 2 eighth century cultivated the profane sciences . Indeed the age in which he lived was equally unfavourable to the pursuit of science or to the Vir ili us encouragement of speculative thought , as g On found from experience . one occasion , Boni u ro mul I face , the Papal Legate , deno nced him for p gating false doctrines inasmuch as he maintained sun that the and moon passed under the earth , and "5 that there must be inhabitants on the other side . Boniface had a previous dispute with Virgilius over a theological question in which the Pope decided in f Vir ilius favour o g . Either from ignorance of s o r a s n A tronomy , some think , through pique , Bo i face appears to have misrepresented the real views of Virgilius s o as to convey the impress ion that he taught that there was another world and another s un and moon and consequently other men who were ‘ of not redeemed by Our Lord . The versions ’ Virgilius teaching which we have given would

appear to repre sent his real views on the subject . At any rate he seems to have explained his doctrine

s ch o la r s I i . t s w e ll kn o wn th a t h e w a s a fa m o u s G reek s ch o la r a n d i s be li e ve d by m an y to h a v e be e n a m u ch g rea ter sch o la r th a n Al n i n v W e h a ve n ot cu h i s r va l r o a l a o u r . i , i y f ye t s u cce e d e d i n c o llecti n g su ffi c i en t e vid en ce to wa r r a n t hi s i n c lu s i o n i n th e e s e n o n n e n pr t c ctio . 2 Le k Ra t o n a s i u r o I I c l m . n E e I . . y . i i fi , , p s 3 m m er I r l m e Hea l oh n o . H . s h E e nt . 62 Zi , , i , p ; y , J , f

a t . p . 369 . 4 — He l a o h n o . i t . c . 6 1 . y , J , f p p 5 9 57 I RI SH SCH O LARSH I P 1 73 to the satisfaction of the Pope ; for we find no further mention of the controversy and he retained — S ? D . His his see until his death in 784 5 A . teach ings show that he mu st have held that the world was spherical , though he was wrong in his theory that the sun and stars revolved round the earth .

- Even this - semi correct theory was a decided advance on contemporary views on astronomical‘ matters and shows that Virgilius was an original o n s o r thinker scientific subject , else it argues for his acquaintance with Greek literature in which he may have become familiar with the doctrine of o f Eudoxus and Eratosthenes , as to the sphericity 6 As r ili h d the earth . Vi g us wa s bishop of Ag a o e in is Ireland before he went to the Continent , it most improbable that he received his education any place s s other than in an Iri h mona tic school . Unlike a s m ny of the Irish . cholars who went abroad the o f Vir iliu s name g is recorded in the Irish annals , a circumstance which would lead u s to suppose that he was already famous for his scholarship before he went abroad . An additional reason for believing that he had acquired a reputation as a scientist is the fact that he is called in the annals Virgil or ’ 7 Fergal the Geometer . Dicuil d . 82 A . D ( 5 . ) is another instance of an . i s Ir h scholar who was interested in secular studies .

5 H ea l h . o n o . i t c . . 1 y J , p p 57 . 6 m m er H I — i . r sh E l m t , , e en . 62 6 Z i , p p 3 . 7 An n a ls o tke F o u r M a s te f r s I . su b a n n o A , , 784 . D . 1 THE R S M AST C CHO O 74. EARLY I I H ON I S LS His chief claim to fame rests on a Latin tract ‘ De M ans u r is en arum entitled m O b T . As the e name would suggest , this was a work of g ography in the sense that the term is now use d . The internal evidence leaves no doubt as to the Irish birth and ' He no s tn educa tion of the author . speaks of Sco ti nos tra insula Hibernia , , alludes to the Irish poet Sedulius whom he styles nos ter Sedalias and he shows an accurate knowledge of the islands near 9 H in Britain and Ireland . e tells that a certa Suibneus (in Irish Suibhne anglicised Sweeney) was his mas ter to whom under God he owed whatever Suibhne knowledge he possessed . This has been identified Suibhne e with , abbot of Clonmacnois , 1 0 1 D s a who died 8 0 A. . This would sugge t th t Dicuil was a pupil of the famous school of Clon

m acno is e . He derived his material from three sources

He 1 . utilised the report of the Theodosian sur H vey . e tells us that he made it the basis of his work because though vitiated by false M SS . it was t less faulty than Pliny especially in its measuremen s .

2 He . utilised the works of previous geographers . H 3 . e made several interesting additions to existing knowledge which he derived from trust

8 Pu bl sh e d b W a lcken a er P a r s 1 80 b Le tr o n n e in i y , i , 7 ; y m o r e c r t ca l e d t o n P a r s 1 8 1 b u s ta v P a r th e i i i i . i , 4 ; y G y , l n Be r 1 8 0 . i , 7 9 D ct o a r o N a t o na l B i o — n y r a c . . 8 i i f i g fl y , XV p p 4 49 .

1 0 h n o . ci t . 2 Hea l o . 8 . y , J p p 3

1 TH E L I I A T 11 s 76 EAR Y R SH M ON S I C s c 001.

priests and monks made a journey from Ireland to ” the Holy Land . Dicuil To be fair to , we must judge his work not by modern s cientific standards but by the standards a ckn l of the ninth century . We must at least ow edge that he made a genuine effort to obtain the most accurate available information and that he was ’ s li more than usually conscientiou , for when P ny s fi u res t g seemed to him to be inaccurate , he lef a “ blank space . In addition to the Li ber de M ens um Or bis Terrarum Dicuil s , is the author of a hort poem of twenty hexameters which he prefix ed to a copy of “ a short treatise by Priscian , and of an astronomical us n u lish work in prose and verse which is still u p b ed . This latter is dedicated to Louis the Pious and l mentions Dicui by name . We may therefore infer s o o ne that this geographer , a tronomer and p et was o f the vers atile Irish scholars whose work must have contributed in no small degree to the Caro lin ian g revival of learning . This distinguished s cholar is believed to be identical with the Dicuil l " who was abbot of Pah acht in the ninth century . Dung al is another o f those ninth century scholars

‘ of whose life the details are all too meagre . From

£1 3 Tu r n e r Ca th ol c Un v r s t B ul l et n Vo l Wm . e , , i i i y i , I I I . . 6 . X , p 39 1 4 i t T r n e r . . u m . o c , W p p . 396 . ’ l 1 5 P o eta e Aem Ca r o l I I I 1 , . , p . 69 . 1 6 In th e Val en ci en n e: Cod x 6 — e 8 . , 3 , p p 73 76 , c ted by . ’ i

Tu rn er , 1 b1 d . 1 7 t Tu rn e . ci . r . o , W , p p . 39 5 . I RI SH SCHOLARSHIP 1 77 a few fragmentary references and his existing works we are led to the conclusion that he wa s a very capable man distingu ished not only as a theologian and poet but also as an astronomer and school 1 8 masten “ D In the year 8 1 1 A. . he wrote a letter to Charle magne to explain the double eclips e of the sun that was supposed to have occurred the previous year . This letter is written in excellent Latin showing 1 9 familiarity with Virgil and Cicero . Moreover it shows an intimate acquaintance with field the whole of astronomical literature of the time , but it is chiefly remarkable for the expres sion of astronomical views that were cons idered advanced because they seemed to call in question the truth l 20 of the Pto om aic system .

D . In the year 82 5 A . the Emperor Lothair desiring to carry o ut the enlightened educational 21 policy o f his ancestor Charlemagne issued an Edict complaining that through the extreme carelessness and indolence of certain superiors true teaching was to its shaken very foundations , and urging that persons engaged in teaching in all those places hereinafter mentioned should throw all their zeal and energy into securing the progress of their

1 8 M n e P a t . L a t To m 1 0 . ig . , . 5 , p . 4 77 1 9 H e a l n 5 i h 0 . c t . o 8 . y , J , 1 p . 3 3 20 Tu r n er o , i t W . c . 2 , , p p . 39 . 21 P er tz M o n u m en ta G er m a n i a e H s to d L e r e I . 2 , i i , g . , p . 49 Stoke s M a r a r e t Si x M o n th s i n th e A e n n es A VI I I , g , pp i , p p . . ,

. 2 0 . M u t a to u An ti u i ta tes I ta li c e p 5 , q a , To m . I I I . , D sser . i ta t1 o , 43 .

(D 1 98) 1 78 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTIC SCHOOLS disciples and that they should apply themselves to a science as the necessity of the times dem nded . He laid out for this exercise certain places chosen in such a manner that neither time nor distance nor poverty might any more serve as an He excuse to the people . desired therefore at Pavia and under the s up erintendenc e of Dun al a ll s tudents s hould as s emble l g from Mi an , V Brescia , Lodi , Bergamo , Novara , ercelli , Tortona , 22 Acqui , Genoa , Asti , and Como . Thus we see D what a responsible pos—ition ungal occupied as head of the s chool of Pavia the precursor of the famous university . Dungal him s elf informs u s that he was an Irish man in a poem in praise of Charlemagne which commences with these words These verses the Irish Exile ( exul Hi berni cus) sends to King ” “

. He Charles composed several other poems , but that written to Charlemagne is his longest and s s best effort . The shorter poems di play con ider “ able taste but not much imagination .

D . D In 8 2 8 A. ungal appeared in a controversy n against Claudius , bishop of Turin , who had writte d against the veneration of image s . It will be recalle that thi s Claudius was the learned and gifted Spaniard who described the Council of Italian ” bishops as a council of asses (co ngreg atio asino rum ) . Against this formidable opponent

22 Stok es M a r a r e t . , g , ibid 23 P o e ta e Ca r o l I 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 . . . 6 08 , 5 i, , pp 39 , 4 , 4 , 4 3 , 4 9 , 43 24 He l t a o h n o . a 2 y , J , p . p . 39 .

1 80 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C 5 c11 001 . s many quotations from Greek and Latin poets which occur in his reply to Claudius as well as in his epistle to Charlemagne prove that Dungal had a strong love for poetr y and that he wa s well read in classic 29 ’ u D n al s literat re . Thus we see that u g education

was built on a broad foundation , for he was dis tingu ished as an astronomer and a theologian as

well as a poet and a schoolmaster . The la st act of Dungal of which we have any record is his gift of books to the library of Bobbio ?0 D M abillo n ungal is greatly praised by Muratori , , Bellarmine and others fo r his learning and he was valued both in Italy and France for his varied 81 attainments . Muratori , who published a catalogue o f D the library of Bobbio , says that ungal car ” ried into Italy the Scotic love of learning . Among the books which Dungal presented to Bobbio is one which was catalogued as Psalterium but named by 32 Anti ho nar o B an o r Muratori as the p y f g , a book of hymns compiled expressly for the use of the D monastic community of Bangor in Co . own (Ire is land) . It written in Latin , but it contains the s On trongest internal evidence of its Irish origin . the strength of the evidence furnished by the fact that Dungal po s s es sed this book many believe that D s so ungal him elf was a pupil of Bangor . If , we

' 29 Sto ke a r a r e i x M o th i n th A e m es 2 1 s M t S n s e n . . , g , pp , p 3 50 — Fo r l M s ke o c t s t s ee i . 2 2 s Sto s . . 6 . i i , p p p 9 9 7 31 M u r a o r A ti u i t t t l i ca e e m co l t n a es a To . . I D s s r t . . i , q , i iii ,

32 i t f o n en ts . See Stokes M a r a r e t o . c . . 2 1 6 or c t , g , p p I RI SH SCHO LARSH I P 1 8 1 have in Dungal an excellent example of the type of education available in this famous monastic school in the ninth century .

SEDULI US — 01 216; the Emperor Lothair 840 855 there was at Liege a colony of Irish teachers and writers of Sedulius whom the best known is , sometimes called Sedulius the Younger to distinguish him from the author of the Carm en P as chale We have already referred to the fact that he was a distinguished “ 34 He poet and a learned grammarian . is no less "5 famous as a scribe and as a writer on other sub e ts j c . He wrote an important treatise o n the theory of government entitled D e R e cto ribus This work was written at Liege probably about the

8 A . D r year 55 . It is in reality the fi st systematic contribution of the Middle Ages to the theory o f political government and should rank in importance St ’ . De R e imine Princi is with Thomas s g p , with

35 Abo u t 0 o f h i s oem s a r e ubl sh ed b Tr aube P a e ta e 9 p p i y , A w . Ca r l . ’ ’ ’ ’ 34 See h i s tr a ct Ar te m E u tzczz r a m m a t c i n Tr au b e s ' G i i 0 R o m a N o bl zs 1 h ch sh o w s a kn o . 6 w wl e d e o f r e ek , p , i g G . Tr a u be th n ks i t wa s co m o s e i n r e l an i p d I d . 35 M n a P a l . a e ca o t u co n r . 2 d e s cr bes th e r eek f , G , p 3 5 , i G P sa lter tr a n s cr be d b Se d u li u s n o w o 80 i n th e L br a r i y N . 4 7 i y a t th e Ar s e n a le a a r t P is . 56 Fir st pu blish e d by Ca r din a l M a i i n S e ci l eg i u m R o m a n u v a s u ter s e a r xu r l o by Tr a u be i n Q ell en u . Un n g e L a te n s che P h l o l o e d es M tt l a l t s Te E r s te s H e t e er l I . i i i gi i , i , f v o n H e l lm a n M u n i ch en 1 2 e tes H e t S . 06 . 0 w , , 9 , p p 3 , Z i f oh an n e s Sco ttu s von E dwar d Ken n ar d Ran d M u n ch en J , ,

1 906 , p . 1 06 . 1 82 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SC HOOLS

’ Colo nna s De R egimine Pn ncipum and with ’ ” D D e M o narc hia r d D . ante s . As its latest e itor

Hellman has remarked , if this work is not drawn s t from exclu ively Irish sources , it is drawn at leas from sources which were held in high esteem by s Irish writer of the Carolingian Age . This Celtic conception o f the duties of a Christian ruler is of very special interest to the student of medi ae val

political theories . Its sources are Christian and s cla sical , its immediate object was the direction of a Frankish ruler (probably Lothair the mind that conceived it was Celtic and here we have at the beginning of m edize val speculation a combination o f force s and interests which went to make up the 38 ae medi val policy . ’ Se dulius also wrote a commentary of Po rphry s Is agog e ( o r Introduction to the Logic of Aristotle) fo r which the basis may have been the Greek text though the work wa s known to other Christian 39 logicians only in the Latin translation .

1 1 4 11 0 11 2 ERI EN . D 1 5 sco r us UG A (d . 877 A . ) This was by far the greatest Irish scholar of the ninth century . Indeed in many ways he was the Oi lf most remarkable man of his age . his early i e He we have no details . was born between the years

'

57 Ca th . U v . B ull et x i Tu rn e r Boo k Re v e w i n m n . , i i , i i . P 1 49 39 I bid . 39 i t . b s u rn er o . c . Tr au be 0 Ro ma No l T Wm . . , i i ; , , p p 397

1 84 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

Dionysius the Areopagite had been sent by Pope

- l - e S . th I . e M Paul to Pepin Bref , and a splendid of mys tical writings of the same author was subse quently presented to Louis the Pious by the z By antine Emperor Michael . The works were of course in the Greek language and the greates t scholars of France were unable to translate them 44 or to interpret their meaning . The task was finally entrusted to Eriugena and he produced a s s s s ati factory version . The learned Ana ta ius , the o n of Eri u ena papal librarian , reading the version g , wrote to King Charles expressing his surpris e that a barbarian who hailed from the extreme con fine s of the world and who might have been deemed to be as ignorant of Greek as he was remote from civiliz ation could have proved capable of compre ” 6 hending the mysteries of the Greek tongu e . Great as was his fame a s a lingui s t his reputation s as a philosopher is still greater . His philo ophical speculations gave rise to discussions and con tro vers ies which even to the present day occupy the own attention of the greatest thinkers . In his day hi s views were nothing short of sensational . In addition to his translation of the Pseudo - Dionysius Eriu ena co m rehen already referred to , g wrote a p "6 sive philos ophical work D e Divis ione Natum e and

44 h s a d ch ol a rs . Flo o d F . M . I r el a n d : i ts S c o ol n S , p p — , , 94 9 5 . 45 i a v 1 te . o . c t . r e th e bo e 5 o d Floo d , F . M p p . 9 5 , wh e q u 46 ’ Te x t o f E r i u en a s wo r ks i n M ne P a t . La t . Tom . g ig . (

1 2 2 wi th P r e a ce b a le an d Sch u lter . , f y G 1 11 1 5 1 1 SCH OLARSH I P 1 85 a treatise De Egress u et R egress a Ah im ua a d D eum of which only a fragment has come down to w‘ He De P redes us . also contributed a treatise tina tione to a theological controversy that wa s waged at that time . This work seems to have ex o sitio nes o r given offence to both parties . His p commentaries on the Pseudo - Dionysius are helpful He in determining his philosophical views . also wrote a commentary o n the work o f Martianus D e Nu tiis . Capella , p Eriu ena It is as a philosopher , however , that g

stands without an equal during his own time . It has been remarked that Eriugena appears to have been born subject to a strange fatality whereby ’ men s opinions are always changing in regard to his philosophical views and the position to be

assigned to him among philosophers . In the

Staudenmaier St . criticisms by Maurice Milman , , Tailander s Hauréau Rene , , Chri tlieb , , and Huber the view o f each writer differs in some important 48 o f respect from the views the rest . This is no less true of the criticism of living philosophers as the following quotations from two standard work s o n His tor o Philos o h to De the y f p y go show . Wulf write5 ° In opposition to the majority o f historians who describe Eriugena as the first of

scholastics , we have no hesitation in calling him

47 I n th e L br a r o f th e Br t sh M u s eu m H ar l e an 2 06 i y i i , i , 5 Tu r n e r m W . r Te a h e i h o i A t . I r s h c r s n t e Ca r l n i a n R ev va l , , i g i ,

a t . I I I 2 6 . X . , 5 43 ll n er . Mu o ci t. B . . . 1 1 . i g , J , p p 7 1 86 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C sc11 o o t s

- — the firs t of anti scholastics and the

able at the present epoch . For his teaching pro pounds principles which are opposed to those of scholasticism and which form the starting - point of s oppo ition Turner , on the other Eriu ena hand , says that g illustrates the many sidedness of the scholastic movement and proceeds as follows To classify as anti - scholastic what ever does not agree with the synthetic systems o f the great masters of scholasticism is to break the line of continuous historical development which led s Eriu ena through failure and partial succe s of g , i s Abelard , and other ph losophers to the philo ophy in fina l of the thirteenth century . Scholasticism its form is the outcome of the forces of Christian civili zation which in different conditions and in less favourable circumstances produced the imperfect scholasticism of the period of beginning and the t ” 5° period of grow h . Whatever may be the difierence of opinion as to his place in a particular school or system of philosophy there can be but one as to his abilities as i De a scholar and an original thinker . Accord ng to Wiilf , he must be regarded as one of the most striking personalities in the world of culture and He learning in the early Middle Ages . was far in advance of his time While his contemporaries

49 De Wfi lf M a u r ce H s to r o M ed e val Ph l os o hy, . i , i y f i i p

6 . l sh tr a n s la t o n b Dr . P . Co e . 1 E ng i i y ff y , p 7

50 o o Ph l os o h . 2 . Tu r n er Wm . H s t r y , p 57 , , i y f i p

1 88 TH E EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C s c 11 00Ls

the essential traits of Neo - Platonic phil i pantheism , the doctrine of ntuition , and

redemption . The sentence enunciated by Eriugena in on Predestination“ as well as elsewhere that the true religion is also the true philosophy and vice vers a is the theme of the entire scholastic

philosophy . The consequences that follow from this maxim as enunciated that every doubt in regard to religious matters can be refuted by philosophy appeared so preposterous that a meeting of Fren ch “ clergy declared it to be insanity or blasphemy . Religion is to Eriugena in its relations to

philosophy what authority is to reason . In respect

to rank reason precedes so also in respect to time , since what is taught by authority of the Fathers

was discovered by them with the help of reason . The weak must naturally subject themselves to

authority , but those who are less weak should be content with this all the less because the figur ative nature of many expressions and further th e unde niable accommodation exercised by the Fathers toward the understanding of the uneducated demand 55 the u s e of reason as a corrective By reason 15 s to be under tood , however , not mere subjective opinion but the common thought which reveals itself in conversation when out of two reasons both are

53 i t P r ed s t n a i on e I 1 . t . t T 1 2 2 D e e . n P a La . rn M e o . ig , , , , 54 E r dm a n H s to r 0 P h l o s o h En l sh tra n s lat on b , i y i p y, g i i y V 2 W ll s to n H o u h o { I . . 2 . S . i i g , , p 9 55 i i o tu a D e Di v s n s N a r e, I . , p . 69 . 1 11 1 5 11 SCH OLARSHI P 1 89

made one , each of the speakers becoming as it were 56 the other . While he maintains the priority of s reason he is far from being a rationali t . Indeed he is more inclined to take side with the mystics to belittle all reason unless it is illumined from o n s high . Instead of rationali ing theology , he ’ 57 would theosophise philosophy .

’ Thus we see ho w Eriug ena s philo sophical speculations naturally became the basis for innumer able controversies which are still far from being definitel y decided . Such controversies , however , have served a useful purpose in the history of Eriu ena s t philosophy . g assign o philosophy the h fourfold task to divide , to de ne , to demonstrate , ’ s s a s Eriu ena s to analyse . Thi may be de cribed g definitio n of the applicability o f dialectic to —a philosophy and theology notion which , like the o f to union faith and science , is destined develop in 58 s f s the sub equent growth o philo ophy .

’ Eriu ena s o f g knowledge Greek , and fondness for s Greek dogma and Alexandrine philo ophy , led to

the report that he made s everal journeys to Greece . 59 But this conjecture has no foundation in fact . Indeed the evidence we have collected with reference to the course of studies pursued in the

56 I b d i IV . , . 57 Tu rn i l o c . c t . 2 . er , Wm . , p . 49 58 1 1 15 4 . 59 Po o l e e i n a ld L a n e I l l u s tr a t o n i n th e H s to r o , , i i y f M e d e v a l Th o u Se e E x cu r u s o n V s t to r ee ce Le en d i g — i i G , g E xa m n ed 1 1 1 . i , p p . 3 3 3 11 11 1 11 1 5 11 11 11 1 90 1 EARLY 1 1 0 4 5 1 1 0 s c 001. 5

Irish monastic schools would point to Ireland as the most likely place where he laid the foundations of

his classical scholarship .

IN FLUENCE OF I RI S H SCH O LARSH I P The scope of Irish scholarship may in some measure be judged from the existing works of the great and better - known scholars mentioned in this influence t and other chapters , but the precise of hat ul s scholarship is more diffi c t to e timate . It is only in very recent years that we have begun to realise how much native Irish literature and history owes i to the Irish monastic schools . In the wider f eld of European scholarship there is still much room for investigation b efore we can co nfidently assign to

Irish monastic scholarship its proper place . The superiority of Irish classical learning has been demonstrated and is now acknowledged by practically all scholars who have made an intensive 60 s s tudy of the early Middle Age . But as a dis “ r n ce ni g historian has remarked , what is of greatest signific ance is the fact that there reigned not only among the professed scholars but among the plain mis sionaries (who s e name was legion) a classical s pirit , a love of literature for its own sake and a keen

delight in poetry . They brought imagination , they brought spiritual force to a world well nigh sunk in s materiali m . Their lighter productions 60 ' Fo r n u m e r m n a r r s e P . o lan s o u s co plim e t y t ibu te se T. _N boo klet I n s }: Un iv e rs ity a n d Cul tu r e 1 n th e Ca th o li c Tru th o c i e t er e S y S i s .

1 9 2 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 1 1 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

t of Epistles of S . Paul formed a new school s exege is . They introduced the Neo Platonic point of view in metaphysical spe culation and carried the art of dialectic to a higher point than it ever before attained . It is no exaggeration to say that they were the founders of scholasticism and that Ireland is the Ionia of mediaeval “2 s philo ophy . Zimmer too shows that the Irish missionaries were not merely the repre sentatives of Christianity they were instructors in every branch of science s and learning of the time , posse sors and bearers of a higher culture than was at that time to be foun d anywhere on the Continent , and can surely claim to 5 — n have been the pioneer , to have laid the cor er “ 3 stone of western culture on the Continent .

We have reached the end o f our study . We w influence have traced the rise , gro th , and of the s s s Iri h mona tic chools during the sixth , seventh , ih . i eighth , and ninth centuries The r work and flue nc e s s s la ted for everal centurie after the ninth , but during the period which we have investigated their influence was a dominant one in the history of

European education . In the later centuries other factors contributed to the advancement of learning in Western Europe and while the Irish contribution

62 Tu rn e r sh Te a ch er s i n th e Ca r ol Wm . Ar t c le I r , , i i I I I i n i a n Rev va l i n Ca th o l c Un v er s t B ul l e t n Vo l . g i i i i y i , X p p . 570—580 . 63 Z 1 m e Th I m t M ed uw al Cul tur e m r H . , e n s h El e en m , 1 p . 30 . 1 11 1 5 1 1 SCHOLARSHIP 1 93

was by no means negligible it was less distinctive , si nificant less g , than during the period ending with If the ninth century . , then , we would form a correct idea o f the position that Irish monastic schools occupy in the history of western culture , we have but to contrast the actual state of contem po rary learning in the rest of Western Europe with that available in these schools ; or to recall their large number and wide distribution , noting the liberal nature of the course o f studies pursued therein and the generosity with which that learning wa s extended to all irrespective of race o r social position . In either case we are driven to the conclusion that these schools were indeed the gr eatest educational factor o f early mediaeval s times , that they were , in reality , the universitie 5 0 West , the lights that illumined the ( D ark Ages .

( D 498)

1 96 T11 11 EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C 5 011 0015

Ed on of The Lebor ree r es t R . I . T actate in B , iti B M scella n to a no M e er alle 1 9 1 2 i y K y , H , . Co l an Tr as Tha unmtur a an d Ad d Sand m an in g , i g M ne P at . Lat . 53 80 87 88 . ig , , , ’ Co lumba Colm C lle Wr i n s in Ree e s Ada mnan ( i ) , it g v

2 v ols . Lo ndon , 1 898 .

C lumbanus W t in M ne B l o r n s . 80. , i i g ig Confes si o Sa nd i P atr ici i i n L iber ' Tr ‘i te L e oh n w nn also in am ed . b J G y , p if , y Stok es . ’ ar mae l hree l S k C s G o ssm in T asses ed . o es London y G , t , ,

1 862 .

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M . . . r H E . fi i M L o . V n ne P . t n 1 05 I 570 . ig . , ; , p , '

N r I n M i u e P . L . En ena De D v s o ne atu ae . ug . i i i g ,

22 . tom . [

Fland F na Ki r Ailfrid o f No rthumbri a oem , i ( g ) P r E r r 3 ub . in rin a se o I retm in Lebo ee . 1 p i f B , p , p l v D b n 9 1 1 . . u 1 iii i ,

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- ' Lm éha f ”a h Uidlu e Dubl n 1870. , i ,

ook o Bau Dubl n 1 887 . B f m , i , oo k 0 A h edi ted b Dubli n w nn o h n . G y , J B ] w , y , ,

1 9 1 3 . addan and Stubbs Comm its ennd Ecd esah sti cd Docu H , ments rd afllng 10 e Brda i u m d l rd a i S vols .

Oxford , 1 869 .

onas V ta Sm ti Cotwm 1 M f “ P . L. W col. J , i , g . 101 1

1 3 1 R bert A kinso n an d . H . Liber 5 3 101 11 11 cd . b o 5 , y t J

Be rnard . 2 vols . Lon do n, 1 4 M P L . to m . 7 Mar n as Sco ttus Ch ee k“ in i ne . . i , g .

$ 24 95 . pp . — mau o om m s o uncas 1 97

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ew rd Ma 1 91 0. BM W R , y , n m R Si Con a” ed b ohn Strach a , ule o . f g , , y J Old Iri sh Metri cs] Rule 1 904 , i n 3 MSS.

than 500 A. D . Q 3 1 98 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 MONASTI C s c11 0 01 5

Stokes an d S rach an Thesa urus P alaeohibem i cus t , , 2 ls d e 903 v m br 1 . o . Ca i g , Stokes Wh tle L ves o the Sa nts rom the ook 0 , i y , i f i f B L smor x w h En l h ans o Ir h e s r . Oxf i e . is t t it g i t 1 8 90. T r Li e o St t k b in Roll: r a t te . a r c cd . ip i f f P i , y , Ser 2 v ls L ndon es o . o 1 887 . i . , Ta c tus A ri cola i , g . T k of t he Seven L ber al Arts oem b an I r sh m on S . i , p y i G all on i n Newes Arch v der Gesellscha ft Geschi chts , i — kund l 2 629 an er 1 878 . e . Vo . i v . 6 7 o , pp , H v , Ti r L e t atr ck in th e ook ech an Notes on the o S . , if f P i B

t atr ck. o Arma h an d i n The Tr a rt te L e o S . f g , ip i if f P i ' Ussh er Vetem m E i stola m m Hi berm ca m m S llo e , p y g , n — Dubli , 1 84 7 1 869 . l la rid Ed ed V ta e Gal i Auctoribu s Wettin o et Wa f o . i , it by Bu rn o Krusch i n M on umenta Germa ni a e Hi s t M 22 se r i a e S . R i v . 9 . o S . . , , pp q

H l n 1 . Z mm er He nr ch lossae i bem i ca e. er 1 88 i , i i , G B i ,

SECONDARY AUTHORITIES Consum e r)

bbo t T K C alo ue M A . at o SS i n the L brar o , g f . i y f Tr n t Colle e Du bli n Dubl n 1 900. i i y g , . i , Abelso n au l The Seven L ber al Arts Stud , P , i , A y M ed eval Culture N w Y k e o r 1 906 . i , , Un versa l Alzo . Church H stor 3 vols g, J , i i y ,

C n c nnat 1 889 . i i i , A hi vi um Hi bern u — rc i c m , 6 vols Dublin , 1 9 1 2 1 9 1 7 . Arnold Ma t h ew On the Stud o Celt c L terature , t , y f i i ,

w o rk 9 3 . Ne Y , 1 1 ar n - o uld L ves o the Sa nts London 1 897 B i g G , i f i , . . ls 1 6 vo . arrett M ch ael A Calenda r o Scott sh Sa nts Fort B , i , f i i , A u us us 1 904 . g t , Belles heim Can o n Geschichts der athol schen rche , , K i Ki I rla nd Ma n z 1 890. , i , ° Ber n Osbo rn and Marstrander Carl M scellan to , , , , i y mm M e er alle 1 9 1 2 y , H , .

2 00 TH E EARLY I RI SH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

Drane Au us a Th eod os a Chr st a n Schools and , g t i , i i n Schola rs , 2 vo ls . , Lo don , 1 867 . l r o I rela L nnox P . o n Dunn ose h an d e . es , J p , , J , G i f d a ser es o f sh or essa s b d fferen con ri bu ors ( i t y y i t t t ,

w th selec ed b bli o ra hi es Wash n to n D . C. i t i g p ) , i g , ,

1 9 1 4 . lum ba I r sh M onks Euro e Edm o nds Rev . Co , ( ) , i p , —2 20 3 . Ar cle i n lor es o Ireland . ti G i / , pp '

Cambr e 1 9 1 . Enc clo ed a B ri tta m ca 29 ls . d 0 y p i , vo , i g , Es os to Mar o nowled e o r eek Irela nd durin p i , i , K g f G g the M ddl A A e es r cle i n Stud es Dubl n Dec . i g , ti i , i , . 1 2 9 1 .

L brar e A H er l . s Art cle i n rchi vi um i b ni cum vo . iii i i , i ,

33 . o . The La tin Wr iter s of I rela nd Art cle i n I r sh Theolo cal , i i gi

i . vol . v

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I rela nd . Gou au d Dom Lo u s Les Chreti entes celli ues ar s g , i , q , P i ,

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auck Alber rchen esch chte Deutschla nds te l i H , t , Ki g i , i , Le s 1 904 . ip ig, ’ Haureau B L es Ecoles d I rlc mde ch a i n S n ula r t es , . , p i g i i ° ° Hi st ri u e o s et L 1 ttem 1 r es a r s 1 894 . q , P i , De La h lo l so h e Scho a st ue 2 ls . P i p i iq , vo ,

a r s 1 850. P i , eal h n M Rev I n ula a n om m et o o st . s S ct H y , J ( , ’ Doctoru m I r ela n d s An c ent Schools , i d Schola s Du bl n 2 h ed a n r 1 90 4 t . , i , , The L e a nd r t n s o S a r ck W t. t if i i g f P i , Dubl n 1 905 . i , erzo Realenz klo a di e r r otesta n t Theolo e H g, y p fa p gi m l Ar le b H . Z m r e t che r e te l x . h t c e s sc . i ( i y i , K i Ki ) ull El n hr t el nd n n ea o r E C s an I r a d 1 905 . H , , arly i i , Lo o ,

Text B k o Ir sh L tera ture 2 ls . A oo f i i , vo , bl n Du 1 9 1 0. i , The oem B k o the a el Lo n don 1 9 1 8 P oo f G , , de Dou las L tera r H ist o Irela nd Londo n Hy , g , A i y ory f , ,

1 906 .

Ar t cle Edu c ti n I reland i n i , a o , ’ Munroe s C clo ed a o Edu ca ti bn y p i f . I r l r l d r i cultu ral ed m W . Co n e e a nd I ndu st i a a n . Ag , y , l n Dub 1 900. i , enn er enr Ar t cle Celt c R te i n Cathol c Enc J , H y , i , i i , i y clo edi a p . o P oci a l Hist o I reland 2 l ce . W. S s . J y , , A ory f , vo ,

Dubl n 1 9 1 3 . i , ss ran L tera r H ist o the En l sh u e d . . J , J J , A i y ory f g i eo le l h a 1 elt c L tera tu re N w Yo rk i c . C e vo . P p , , p , i i , , 2 1 9 1 . ea t n eo ffre Hi stor o Ir ela nd 4 vols I r i sh tex t K i g , G y , y f , , d En l ra nsla on Lo nd on 1 902—49 1 4 an sh t t . g i i , ,

' ° ° eller F lder 1 th d Schm tzu e den 1 r 1 sche11 a nu K , Bi f g M scr ten i n M i tthei li un en des a nt ua r schen Ges ip , g iq i d Rem a rks b ll ha n l sh t an s . an e t E . W sc g m . f , i r y Dr R e l er 011 7 11 61 1 o Archa eolo v l ii e ves i n U st o . i , f gy , v . d n K r P Da r A es Lo n o 1 904 . e W . k , g , , t o rels md Lan an Eccles a st ca l H{ s r I , Dubl n 1 889 ig , i i o y f i , , n e M Ea I r sh M 111 11 3011 13 Sc i t O f L ds W rd . i y , . rly i r p , x o 9 1 0 1 . 2 0 2 THE EARLY IRISH M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

Leach E ucat onal Cha rters nd D A. F. d a ocuments , , i , 5 — D 98 1 . a mbr d 1 9 1 1 . 909 A . C e , i g , The Schools o M ed eval En land f i g , nd n 1 1 9 5 . Lo o , Macal s r tud es If h E r a h A . S. S s 3 e R . ols i t , , i i pig p y , v Dubl n 1 1 2 897 90 1 907 . i , , , u i reda ch bbot o ona ster boi ce Dubl n M , A f M , i ,

1 9 1 4 .

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° ° Anecdota 0xo11 1 e11 3 1 a L ves o the , i f Sa nts m B k o L smore i fro oo f i , O f d 1 890. x or , Tod d am es en h orn St tr ck A o le . a st o Irelc md , J H t , P i , p f , D b u l n 1 864 . i , / Towns n The rea t o e d W. . Scho lmen o the M { ddle , J , G f A es Re r n New Y 1 9 5 0 . g , p i t , ork , Trau be Lu dw 0 R m N bli s M n h o u c 1 89 1 . , ig , o a , i , er ne Scottom m Mu n h on c 1 900. P , i , T rn m R R I r s Tea er u er W . ht ev . h ch s the , ( ig , i C in i n Rev val a ver sch olarl arol g a i , y y ° ' a nd h elpful a r ticle i n Ca tholtc U11 1 ve1's1 ty B llet n Wa sh n to n D u C. 1 90 vol . . 7 i , i g , , , 2 iii . . 38 t . e se 567 et s e . x , pp q , q H to o h loso h s r osto n 1 903 . i y f P i p y , B Ware Si r am es The Wr ter s o Irela n d m 2 B s , ( ) J , i f , ook , En l n l n r Ha i bl n sh tra s a t o b Walte s Du 1 746 . g i i y rr , i , Wa ttenba h D Schm twe en 13 i tt lalter c W . a s s 111 e , , f M , Le s als Art cle i n Ulster o Arch ip ig, o , i f , l x ii lfa 9 vo . e st 1 85 . , B , West A F l i n a nd the R e o Chr t an chools . cu s s S , A i f i i , N w Y 2 e 1 89 . ork , Westwoo d oh n The B k o ells a lecture ven , J , oo f K , gi i n n O f d Novem ber 1 886 Dubl 1 887 . x or , , , i , Wa rr n F E L tur a nd R tual o he Celt c Church e . t , , i gy i f i , f d O 1 88 1 . x or , Wh t A l e S. . o o i a . i , J , p g - Irelamt A an d ook of Woo Mar n . P an d t W. G i , , ag , H B

- Pr e Chr st an An t u t es nd n 1 895 . i i iq i i , Lo o ,

u ma t ca Celt ca erl n 1 87 1 . Ze ss . C. ra m , J , G i i , B i , Z m m er e nr ch The Celt c Chu rch r ta n a nd i , H i i , i B i i i Ir ela nd En l sh tra nsla t on b M ss A. . g i i y Zimm er o f Ar ticle in Realenzy ktopa di e fu r rot Theolo e er tzo te l x nd n fi . gi (H g) , i , Lo o , 2 1 90 .

ela us I reland erl n 1 901 . P gi , B i , ° ° Ueber B edeutung des 1 1 1 sche11 Elemen ts fur ° ° ° ' h rbu ch d1 e M 1 ttell1 che K u ltm r euss . a (P J , li x En l sh tran sla t on b Mi ss , g i i y Edm an ds u n der th e title I r ish Element 2 06 THE EARLY 1 11 1 5 11 M ONASTI C SCHOOLS

m ost in teres tin g essay containing a won d erful accum ula tion o f facts with reference

tinen t bu t unfortun a el w hout a , t y it

Th e names o f a few addi tional authorities consulted or

cited appear in the foo tnotes .