Early Christian Ireland Flashcards
Irish monks and missionary work abroad
Columcille Was the Irish Celtic monk who founded the Celtic monastery on the island of Iona off Scotland where the book of Kells was created.
100 years later Iona’s ninth Abbot, Adomnam,would write a book called:
Life of St.Columba
Beehive hunts
The monks on Sceilg Mhicil lived in beehive huts
These huts were weather proof as the stones fitted perfectly on top of each other.
The small opening for the door allowed the least amount of wind into the hut.
Monastic treasures in early Christian Ireland
Monasteries grew in size and wealth from AD 700
The monks began to create some beautiful works of art. They used gold,silver,bronze and jewels.
The Ardagh chalice
The Tara brooch
The monks also produced many beautiful manuscripts in Latin of the gospels:
The Book of Durrow
The Book of Kells
Examples of stone crosses in Ireland
- Clonmacnoise, Co Offaly
5. Monasterboice, Co Louth
Polludius
Polludius introduced Christianity to Ireland amd was where Before st Patrick
Wat was st Patricks book called?
St Patricks book was called confessio which was Latin for ‘The Confesion’
Name two monasteries in Ireland
Two monasteries in Ireland were
St Kevin- glendalough
St Ciaran- Clonmacnoise
What were the first Irish monks like?
The first Irish monk were hermits and lived in on an isolated places e.g. Sceilg Mhicil and inishmurray
What were the Sceilg Michil Islands like?
The islands were remote and dramatic. On Sceilg Michil you can see the well preserved remains of the early monasteries
Life was difficult for the monks on the island but many did surviv the harsh conditions feeding off fish sea birds and whatever small crops they were able to grow on their thin soils.
It is also probable that they received provisions from the mainland from time to time when the weather permitted travel across the sea.
