How the Irish Saved Civilization

Paige Harbarugh
5th period
How the Irish Saved Civilization.

Thomas Cahill’s book takes place between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages. During that time, Europe had grand libraries, but they were burned down by Germanic invaders. With this, most of Western literature was destroyed. Around AD 390, a child by the name of Patricius was born. He spent the first sixteen years of his life in in the comfort of a Roman civitas, but became a slave to one of the hundreds of Irish kinds, Miliucc. Miliucc made Patricius his shepherd-slave. The work of shepherds was bitterly isolated, and Patricius would spend months alone is the hills. It was because of this isolation that he had found God and became a holy man. Patricius then became Saint Patrick, and became a missionary bishop to Ireland. Under Patrick’s leadership, Irish scribes copied thousands of manuscripts that had been lost when Rome was being invaded. Thanks to Patrick and his guidance, Ireland became an inclusive Christian culture in which pagan influence was embraced. Because the Irish recopied all of the lost literature of Europe, they are thought to have saved civilization. The Irish did not necessarily save the entire civilization, they only saved Western civilization. But by doing this, they saved the world that we know and live in today. If it was not for the Irish, Christianity would have probably vanished completely. With Christianity gone, the entire history of the world would have changed.
It all began with the Celts going into Ireland. They came about around 600 B.C and crossed the Rhine. Some settled in France and became the Gauls, and others settled in Britain and became the Britons. 50 years after Celtic tribes reached Britain, they had finally spread into Ireland. They were an illiterate, aristocratic, seminomadic, Iron Age warrior culture. Ireland’s wealth came from their animal husbandry and slavery. Because they were isolated in the Atlantic, the Irish suffered few outside influences. To the rest of Europe, they were viewed as barbaric. On the Romans first encounter with the Irish’s warriors, they were shocked and beyond frightened. The Irish would strip before battle-carrying their sword and shield and only wearing sandals and a torc-and charge at their enemies, howling. To the Romans, they seemed possessed by demons. The Irish referred to their tactic as a “warp-spasm”. This made the Irish seem like wild animals. So, between there was little interaction between Ireland and the rest of the world, aside from trade, which took place at a Roman trading base in Stoneyforden, Malahide, and North of Doblin.
The Irish and the Romans social structures were the both alike and very different. Like the Romans, the Irish had kings; but the Ireland was believed to have hundreds of kings, or Ri. These kings were nothing more than local strongman ruling over a few dozen extended families. Both men and women were treated the same in both cultures. The Irish were said to be “sex obsessed”. Irish sexual arrangements were very improvisational. They had trial “marriages” of one year, multiple partners, and homosexual relations among warriors. But as the Roman lands went from peace to utter chaos, the land of Ireland was rushing from chaos to peace. This is thanks to a man named Patrick.
Before Patrick became a Christian, he was a shepherd-slave by the name of Patricius. Like mentioned before, being a slave of this profession was a hard life. During Patricius’ isolation, he had two constant companions: hunger and nakedness. Because of these horrendous conditions, Patricius could only think of one thing to do; pray. Patricius did not really believe in God and found priest foolish, but what else could he have done besides turn to the God of his parents? The more Patricius prayed, the more his faith grew. Over the six years of his isolation, Patricius had grown from a careless boy into a holy man. On his last night as a slave, a voice spoke to Patricius telling him his ship was ready, and it was time for him to go home. Patricius and the sailors of the ship crossed the continent, departed from their ship, and traveled inland. They found devastation as they trudge across a desert for two weeks. Throughout those two weeks they do not encounter another soul or meal. As they began to starve to death, Patricius began to pray to his God. And, to the sailor’s great surprise, a herd of pigs appear! So, when Patricius was going through trouble with his environment, he would pray. Eventually, Patricius became Saint Patrick, apostle of the Irish nation.
As Augustine lay dying in Hippo, he heard the sound of the barbarians besieging the city. With his death and the death of Roman civilization, all things classical were lost. If all things civilized and western were lost then why do we still have Augustine’s writings, Ausonius’ writings, the works of Homer and Virgil, and especially the Scriptures? This is where the Irish come in. Once St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, a passion for learning occurred which resulted in the waking of classical learning. Ancient Greek and Latin texts were soon recopied by the Irish monks, starting with the gospels and other biblical writings. The Irish were true lovers of language, and because of this all texts were copied down. This love for learning and writing spread through Ireland and all over Western Europe. Wherever an Irish missionary went, a church would be planted churches as well as schools and monasteries where literature could be copied. So, Christianity and lost literature spread once again throughout the old Roman Empire.
In the ninth century, Vikings came and destroyed most of the monasteries and learning centers of the Irish. They took the books of their wealth, burned them, and killed or tortured as many monks as they desired. But by the eleventh century, when Ireland regained some stability, it would never be the same cultural center that it had been before the Viking attacks. The poor Irish, who were viewed as barbaric, never got the rightful credit for recopying the literature of ancient Rome. Ireland revived its literature and language through monasticism and literacy. And that is how Ireland saved civilization.