Monasticism in Ireland, AD 900-1250

Edel Bhreathnach

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781801511681
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

The history of monasticism in early Ireland is dominated by its flourishing during the sixth and seventh centuries, a period dominated by Columba of Iona and Columbanus of Bobbio, and later by the ' reform' spearheaded by Malachy of Armagh during the twelfth century. But what of monasticism in Ireland during the intervening period? Regarded as different from ' mainstream' Anglo-Saxon and continental monasticism, monastic life in Ireland has not been fully understood in scholarly discussions about the existence of distinct ' monasticisms' throughout Christianity. The Irish sources, many written in the vernacular, are not accessible and are viewed as unconventional. The secularization of monasticism in Ireland has overshadowed evidence for a thriving lived monasticism. This major study concentrates on those men and women who followed a monastic life, especially between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, and who maintained a universal monastic ideology while incorporating monasticism into their own cultural environment.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Abbreviations
• Glossary
• Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Conventions
• Introduction
• 1. The origins of modern perspectives
• 2. Reading the primary sources for Irish monasticism: Part I: pre-900 sources
• 3. Reading the primary sources for Irish monasticism: Part II: post-900 sources
• 4. The sámud and the cráibdig: diverse monastic communities and offices
• Picture Section 1
• 5. The Vita Communis: creating a spiritual community
• 6. Ríagla: exhortations, precepts, rules and customs
• 7. Learning and praying on the path to Heaven
• 8. Private and public monastic spaces
• Picture Section 2
• 9. A new monastic culture flourishes
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
• Index