The Evangelism of Patricius in Ireland
Patricius’ mission to Ireland began in the territory of Lóegairos maqui Néilli, son of his deceased former master Neillos of the Nine Hostages. Initially he was welcomed by the Connachta tribal alliance that controlled large territories of the West and Midlands. Using his connections with the local aristocracy, he secured land near Emainos Machai (1), on the edge of the territory of the Uladh.
Christianity already existed in Ireland, especially amongst slaves brought from Britain and Gaul and their descendents. However, it was clearly subordinate to Irish Paganism, especially as the tribal righ (“king” for want of a better word) played an important religious role, and was always the son-in-law or adopted son of a powerful druid or magician. The druid also had an important legal position, entwined with his religious duties. Arbitration of property and land usage disputes usually came down to matters of tradition and legal lore, the only people who had access to this information were a class of druids called Britemanni, who combined their judging with supernatural elements such as reading omens. The ownership of more than one field was determined by the positions of the internal organs of a calf which was born it.
Patricius was aware that converting Ireland would require the submission of this Pagan superstructure to Christianity. From his base in Ardos Machai (2), he sought to create Christian monastic communities which imitated the social structure of Ireland. An elite, comprised of educated literate priests, monks and abbesses, with a menial component below them comprised of illiterate monks and lay brothers. These centres, linked to the seats of powerful nobles, were a direct attempt to usurp the druidic position of keepers of record, using writing, a weapon which the druids did not have at their disposal. Patricius’ writings indicate that this challenge to druidic power did not go unnoticed, the Christians were forbidden from entering the territories of certain Connachta (3) righi by order of local Britemanni.
In 433, the year that Vitalinus Voreticernus ceded Kent to the Saxons, one of Patricius’s aristocratic supporters became the Righ of the Avi Cunogovani tribe. While he had shown considerable restraint in his rhetoric when dealing directly with pagans, “The evangelist of the Gaels” was privately contemptuous of them. Imbued with Patrcius’ righteous zeal, the new Righ’s first official act was to burn the sacred grove at Bailivos. When local druids objected, the warlord, who had been baptized as Séannos, had three of them crucified. Scandalously, local Christian slaves were invited to take part in this sacrilege.
The reaction from the young King of the Connachta, Néillos Maqui Lóegairi was swift and brutal. He marched on the Avi Cunogovani and slaughtered them in battle, down to the last man. What happened next was an indication of how far beyond the pale Séannos’ actions had been. Néillos had the Righ’s family and household, seventy people in all, crucified at the former site of the grove of Baivos. Stepping back to regard his handiwork, Néillos’ comment was darkly laconic.
‘How quick the old trees of Balivos grew back. It must be all the rain.’
Fearing servile insurrection the Righi of Uladh and Connachta expelled the monks and nuns from the seven Christian communities founded by Patricius, and a great number of churches were burned. There was a general exodus of wealthier Christians to the lands of Laigin (4) to the south, and organized Christian life effectively stopped in the north of Ireland, though of course there were small autonomous Christian groups among the slaves. Patrick himself went to Laigin where his increasingly millenarian preaching became wilder and more zealous. Christian sources say he was martyred by an angry mob three years later, at a place called Dubhlinos (Old Irish: The black pool), whose location remains a mystery.
(1) Navan Fort, county Armagh.
(2) Armagh.
(3)The Connachta in the North and Midlands were increasingly known as Avi Néilli, in honour of Neillos of the Nine Hostages. In the West they retained the name Connachta.
(4) Roughly, southern Leinster, North-eastern Munster.
