It is not possible to cover every aspect and era of Irish history, even if this were our intention. Similarly, it is not possible to write an ‘objective’ history. All history is written from a particular viewpoint; our viewpoint, in so far as we can understand it, is that of the Kingdom of God. In the context of the many nuances* of Irish life it is equally impossible to avoid using language which some may feel is loaded politically in favour of one tradition or other. All we can say is that any apparent bias is certainly unintentional and, we hope, does not indicate some deep seated and, as yet unconfessed, stronghold of bigotry!

The purpose of this historical summary of Irish history is to identify those events, individuals and circumstances which clearly continue to exert an influence on all or part of our Peoples today. These are the things from which we need to be set free; the history that has blended with folk mythology** until it has attained a potency which continues to fuel misunderstanding, suspicion, division and hatred. If we are going to understand one another and if we are ever to know what it is that we each need to repent of, we need sufficient insight into our history.

Before we begin our survey by looking at the Celtic Church, one further point deserves our attention. In looking at our past our intention is not to apply the standard and morals of the present to the past. To do so would be presumptuous, assuming that our standards are right and that theirs were wrong simply because we are here now and they were there then! We apply the same standards to the past as we do to the present; the standards of Jesus.

Those standards do not change and ought to have been applied by Christians of every era. It is a matter of conjecture*** but it is impossible not to wonder how different things might have been had followers of Jesus chosen to follow His way rather than the way of their communities. The same challenge, of course, is presented to us today.

THE CELTIC CHURCH

The Celtic Church and Celtic spirituality are enjoying something of a renaissance at the moment. This is partly because we are rediscovering much that was valuable in Celtic Christianity and partly because we are in danger of looking at what appears to have been a golden era in Irish history from an idealistic perspective. We need to embrace all that was good in the Celtic Church, recognising that we have lost many of its insights and strengths but we also need to recognise its limitations and mistakes. Here, as always, we want to incorporate into our lives something of lasting value; not something, which will turn out to be little, more than a passing fad.

The first Christian missionaries in Ireland, who predated Patrick, evangelised a Celtic society which owed many of it’s beliefs and practices to the earlier inhabitants of Ireland who had been absorbed into the various Celtic tribes which had migrated to Ireland over a period of many centuries before the birth of Christ. Earlier migrations from Scotland and mainland Europe had been ongoing from perhaps as early as 8,000 BC and these various societies had left their marks on the land with their megalithic**** graves, stone circles, standing stones and ring-forts.

* nuance - delicate or subtle degree or shade of difference.

** myth - an ancient traditional story of gods or heroes, especially one offering an explanation of some fact or phenomenon; a story with a veiled meaning; a commonly-held belief that is untrue, or without foundation.

*** conjecture - an opinion formed without proof; an opinion formed on slight or defective evidence or none at all; a guess.

****galith - a huge stone, as in prehistoric monuments (archaeology). megalith'ic adjective constructed with, the use of, huge stones (archaeology).