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Early times

Christianity is thought to have come to Ireland in the fifth century, or even earlier. By tradition this was at the hand of St Patrick who landed in 432. In what was a relatively stable land, Christian scholarship and ministry flourished as the rest of Europe descended into chaos with the fall of the Roman Empire. Irish monks then contributed greatly to the spread of Christianity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe with, for example, Columbanus establishing monasteries in France and Bobbio in Italy, where he died in 615.

Ross Errilly Friary has a well-preserved cloister (Route 3, Stage 8)

From the late eighth century onwards Irish settlements and monasteries became targets of Viking coastal raiders. The Vikings established permanent bases in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick which went on to become the first significant towns in Ireland.

Politically, Ireland had been ruled, since prehistoric times, as a series of regional kingdoms with, occasionally, one king emerging as more powerful than his rivals and claiming suzerainty. Ireland’s first High King, Brian Boru, was crowned in 1002. He is credited with bringing stability to the island, supressing the Viking threat and restoring some of the damage inflicted on the monasteries during the preceding century.