Ireland is located on the island of the same name, which is washed from the south, west and north by the Atlantic Ocean, and in the east is separated from the island of Great Britain by the Irish Sea. The state borders on Great Britain - by sea and, with Northern Ireland, by land. The state structure is determined by the constitution of the year, according to which Ireland is a parliamentary republic. Member of the European Union.
The vast majority of the population is Irish, the largest Celtic people. About 90% of the Irish are Roman Catholic. Over the centuries of English colonization, the native language was almost lost, which was purposefully revived since the restoration of independence at the beginning of the century. At the beginning of the 21st century, English remained dominant, and Irish was used in everyday life only by a few residents of remote western and southern rural areas.
Among the main monuments of the country are ancient monuments of Christian architecture: monasteries of the XII centuries in Glendalough and Kells, Romanesque churches of the XII centuries in Clonmacnoise and Clonfert, Gothic churches of the XII-XIV centuries like St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. The main attractions are concentrated in Dublin: The National Museum, which stores exhibits from the period of early Christianity in Ireland - the Tara brooch, the sacred bell of Moylo (VIII century) and others; National Gallery with a collection of paintings from all schools of painting. Two 19th-century cathedrals stand out in Cork - the Roman Catholic St. Mary's and the Anglican St. Finbar.
Story
Pre-Christian centuries
Statistics
Religion
Despite separate centers of penetration of Christianity, at the beginning of the century, most of the Irish continued to worship pagan gods under the guidance of priests -
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religion in ireland map, religion in ireland
Religion in the Republic of Ireland historically plays an important role in society. The main religion is traditionally Latin Rite Catholicism.
- 1 Pre-Christian religion
- 2 Emergence of Protestantism
- 3 The Church of Ireland in the 20th century
- 4 Buddhism in Ireland
- 5 Current state
- 5.1 2006 census
- 6 Notes
Pre-Christian religion
The pre-Christian religion of Ireland was Druidism.
Rise of Protestantism
In the 17th century, British settlers began to form a Protestant community in Ireland. Gradually, the number of Protestants in the northeastern counties exceeded the number of Catholics, which, combined with the occupation of ruling and leadership positions by Protestants, led to discrimination on religious grounds, which remains largely to this day. The basis of Irish Protestant nationalism was formed in the 18th century by the United Irishmen society under the leadership of W. Ton. However, Catholic society has always united the majority of the population of Ireland, relying on the masses of rural residents.
Church of Ireland in the 20th century
The confrontation between Catholics and Protestants and the diametrically opposite attitude of religious communities towards an alliance with Great Britain led in the 20th century to a split in the country, a civil war and numerous casualties on both sides. The six northern counties that formed Northern Ireland in 1921 had a Protestant majority in their population, which was one of the reasons for the division of the state in two. The three counties of Ulster that did not become part of Northern Ireland differed from the six included precisely in the high percentage of the Catholic population.
In the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, one of the articles declared the special position of the Catholic Church in the state as the guarantor of the faith professed by the majority of the country's population. This article of the constitution was only abolished by a referendum in 1972.
After World War II and the end of the period of censorship, the position of the church in society gradually began to weaken, but despite this, Ireland for a long time remained the most religious country in Europe. In 1949-1951, the so-called “motherhood case” received wide publicity. Health Minister Noel Brown introduced a bill to introduce free medical care for children under 16 and women. The hierarchs of the Catholic Church reacted sharply negatively to this proposal, stating in their letter to the Prime Minister that the secular authorities should not interfere in the affairs of the family and the individual, and that the right to ensure the health of the child belongs not to the government, but to the parents, which the Prime Minister announced Brown. It is significant that the minister had to leave his post after this refusal, but neither during the debate on this issue, nor before nor after, neither he nor his opponents questioned the church's right to influence in the social sphere and in the field of morality.
An important step in changing the role of religion in society was the start of television broadcasting, which led to an open discussion of previously taboo issues such as abortion, birth control, and divorce. Returning from abroad, the Irish brought with them changed moral and ethical values.
In 1986, a referendum was held on whether divorce should be allowed in Ireland. 63% of those who voted were against the resolution, which indicates the great influence of Catholic morality even in these years. And only in 1995, after a second referendum, divorces in Ireland were legalized.
Buddhism in Ireland
The history of the introduction of the Irish to Buddhism begins with the biography of one of the first monks of European origin, a born Irishman U Dhammaloka (1853-1914).
Current state
A table of data on the religious situation in Ireland is given.
2006 census
| Religion | Number of followers |
|---|---|
| Roman Catholics | 3,681,446 |
| Church of Ireland | 125,585 |
| Muslims | 32,539 |
| Presbyterians | 23,546 |
| Orthodoxy | 20,798 |
| Methodists | 12,160 |
| apostolic church | 8,116 |
| Buddhists | 6,516 |
| Hindus (including Krishna Consciousness) | 6,082 |
| Lutherans | 5,279 |
| Evangelists | 5,276 |
| Jehovah witnesses | 6,291 |
| Baptists | 3,338 |
| Jews | 1,930 |
| wicca | 25 |
| Pantheism | 1,691 |
| Agnosticism | 1,515 |
| Atheists | 929 |
| Mormons | 1,237 |
| Quakers | 882 |
| Old Catholics | 540 |
| Baha'ism | 504 |
| Church of the Brethren | 365 |
| Other Christian denominations | 29,206 |
| Other religions | 8,576 |
| Not religious | 186,318 |
| Undecided | 70,322 |
| Total | 4,239,848 |
On March 30, 2012, the KNA agency released data from a new census, according to which the number of atheists (“non-religious”) in the country since 2006 has increased by almost 45% and amounted to 269,800 people. Most of this category are 25-29-year-old citizens of the country.
Notes
- Doyle Debate, Volume 125, Column 784, April 12, 1951
- CIA fact book
- Ireland has almost doubled the number of atheists in the last 6 years
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Austria Azerbaijan¹ Albania Andorra Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina Vatican City United Kingdom Hungary Germany Greece Georgia¹ Denmark Ireland Iceland Spain Italy Kazakhstan² Latvia Lithuania Liechtenstein Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Russia² Romania San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Turkey² Ukraine Finland France Croatia Montenegro Czech Republic Switzerland Sweden Estonia |
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Åland Guernsey Gibraltar Jersey Isle of Man Faroe Islands Svalbard Jan Mayen |
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| Unrecognized and partially recognized states | |
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Abkhazia¹ Donetsk People's Republic Kosovo Luhansk People's Republic Transnistria South Ossetia¹ |
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| ¹ mostly or wholly in Asia, depending on the delineation of the border between Europe and Asia ² mostly in Asia |
religion in ireland map, religion in ireland
Religion in Ireland Information About
The most acute socio-political crisis in Northern Ireland still continues to attract the attention of the world community. What are its reasons? The answer lies in the centuries-old history of the struggle of the Irish people against the British, in the insidious policy of the London ruling circles on the principle of "divide and rule", in the split of the country in 1921, in the resulting tangled internal political and socio-economic situation in the province, which is now the focus of burning contradictions - economic, political, class, social, national, cultural, religious.
A feature of the history of Ireland is a very close interweaving of religious contradictions with political and ethnic processes. The national development of the country bears the imprint of the colonial past, when the policy of the British authorities acquired a religious coloring, and the church began to play an active role in the system of government.
There are several periods that characterize the role of the religious factor in the political and public life of Ireland.
At the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system, the Irish, like other peoples, deified the forces of nature, stars, forests, valleys, rivers, streams. A host of demigods, the so-called sids, who resembled good fairies, were also revered. According to the ideas of the ancient Irish, the Sids actively intervened in the lives of people, participated in battles, entered into love affairs with people, and helped them in various ways. The Irish also believed in many spirits, embodied in various creatures, in vows, prohibitions and spells, dreams and various signs. An important role in the public life of pagan Ireland was played by priests - magicians and soothsayers, who, like the Celts of Gaul, were called druids. They were guardians and interpreters of religious and tribal customs and teachers of youth.
In the process of the decomposition of the primitive communal system and the formation of feudal relations, Christianity began to gain more and more popularity among the nobility. Of no small importance in the spread of Christianity on the island was the missionary activity of Patrick (373 - 463), later declared a saint by the Catholic Church. In 432 - 1152 years. there was an independent “Celtic Church” in the country, which had peculiar features that distinguish it from the traditions and customs traditional for Catholicism. Its organization was adapted to the clan system, and spiritual positions became the monopoly of certain families. The diocese of the bishop usually coincided with the territory of the clan, and he himself was elected from people pleasing to the leader and connected by family ties with members of the clans. Celibacy (celibacy of the clergy) was not respected, parish priests lived in clans and were more subject to local customs than to the orders of the Catholic hierarchy. Bishops did not apply to Rome for confirmation of office, and payments due to the pope for spiritual benefices were collected irregularly. The leaders often appropriated church property and income, and also taxed the clergy with the usual taxes for the laity. The monastic communities in Ireland elected their own abbots, not observing the charter of Benedict of Nursia, which regulated the life of Catholic monasteries in medieval Europe. In 1152-1531. The "Celtic Church" was replaced by feudal-type Catholicism, which acted as an ally of English expansion. At the end of the 11th century, the influence of the papacy increased significantly in Western Europe. The Irish Church became one of the objects of his theocratic policy, carried out under the sign of "purification and unity." The synod of Kells in 1152 recognized the primacy of the pope over the Irish Church, condemned marriage among the clergy and concubinage (extramarital cohabitation), declared tithes to be obligatory for all church fees, confirmed the independence of the Catholic clergy from the fees and jurisdiction of secular authorities and created four archbishoprics - Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Tuam, leaving seniority to the Archbishopric of Armagh. However, despite this, the lower clergy adhered to the old church orders.
Three years after the synod of Kells, the ambassador of the English king Henry II Plantagenet arrived in Rome with a request to be allowed to conquer Ireland and complete the subjugation of the Irish church.
The first invasion of the English colonialists into the territory of Ireland took place in 1169. The conquest intensified especially after 1485. When Henry VIII, breaking with Rome in 1534, became the head of the Anglican Church, and the state faith was established in England - the Protestant takeover of Ireland began to be accompanied by the forcible imposition of the Protestant faith, as well as mass confiscation of land from the Catholic Irish and
settled by Protestants.
In the 18th century, only one-seventh of the land remained in the hands of the Catholic population of Northern Ireland.
In accordance with the adopted legislative acts, Catholics were deprived of the right to vote and the opportunity to be elected to parliament and municipal bodies, to obtain a profession, to hold positions in the army, navy, to be promoted, to bear arms. They could not open or study in a school, they were forbidden even to perform folk songs and dances. Catholics were deprived of the opportunity to publish and sell books, newspapers, and were subject to special taxes.
Thus, from the very beginning of the capture of Ireland, the policy pursued by the British colonialists was based on the principle of "divide and rule" along religious, national and class lines. The adopted laws directed against the Catholic population of Ireland deprived them not only of political, but also of elementary human rights, intensifying the split on religious grounds. Only those who accepted the Protestant faith received privileges. Despite this, the Irish peasants remained adherents of the Catholic Church, and many Anglo-Irish lords and Irish leaders were Catholics. So in Ireland, after the reformation, two churches appeared: one - foreign, official, the other - persecuted by the British authorities, but recognized by the majority of the inhabitants of the island.
Period 1782-1916 characterized by the adaptation of the Catholic Church, which exercised control over the spiritual life of the majority of the population, to the colonial order. Protestantism, which held significant political positions, continued to play the role of a pillar of British domination.
In 1916-1972. Catholicism in the south and Protestantism in the north, thanks to the efforts of bourgeois-nationalist circles, received the status of official, privileged religions, thereby reinforcing the artificial dismemberment of Ireland. Emerged in the 60s and early 70s of the XX century. signs of a weakening of religious barriers did not develop in the context of the worsening crisis in Northern Ireland.
In 1966, representatives of the Irish trade unions, together with the Laborites of Northern Ireland, during a meeting with ministers of the Unionist government, proposed a joint memorandum "Rights of the citizens of Northern Ireland", to which the main requirements were developed related to the conduct of electoral reform, the inclusion of representatives of the Catholic minority in government-appointed bodies, elimination of discrimination on a religious or political basis in matters of employment, housing, etc.
The meeting with representatives of the government cabinet showed that the Unionist government did not intend to reckon with the growing movement of the masses in the country, with the demands put forward by authoritative and influential organizations. In 1969, the government decided to use troops against demonstrators in Northern Ireland, where civil rights fighters fought with the police for three days. This
The decision marked a new stage in the development of the political crisis in Northern Ireland. In 1971, the country introduced an internment law, according to which the authorities can not only carry out arrests without trial or investigation, but also imprison those arrested or exile them to concentration camps without specific charges. As a result, the number of arrests increased significantly. The working class was the first to suffer from terror and violence. 90% of those killed in Northern Ireland were from the working class. Most of the detainees are also workers.
The public life of Northern Ireland still continues to maintain a confessional shell. The policies of the administration and the Protestant Unionist parties that promote this are sharply criticized by progressive organizations and free-thinking public figures. The success of the struggle for civil rights, for social progress for the entire population of Northern Ireland, to a large extent depends on how soon and how effectively they will be able to destroy the artificially created religious barrier.
The famous Russian poetess Zinaida Gippius once, although she had never seen Ireland, called it "a foggy country with sharp rocks." Now the island of Ireland, on which, in fact, the Republic of Ireland is located, is called the "Emerald Isle", because. trees and plants are green almost all year round. However, tourists in Ireland will be interested not only in nature, but also in numerous medieval castles, as well as other attractions, traditional festivals and local alcoholic drinks (Irish whiskey, beer and ale).
Geography of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland is located on the island of Ireland, in northwestern Europe. This country has a land border only with Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. The island of Ireland is washed on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean (the Celtic Sea in the south, the St. George Canal in the southeast and the Irish Sea in the east). The total area of this country is 70,273 sq. km. The highest peak in Ireland is Mount Carantwill, whose height reaches 1041 m.
Capital
The capital of Ireland is Dublin, which now has a population of about 550 thousand people. Historians claim that a Celtic settlement on the site of modern Dublin existed already in the 2nd century AD.
Official language of Ireland
Ireland has two official languages - Irish and English. However, only 39% of the population of Ireland knows the Irish language.
Religion
About 87% of the inhabitants of Ireland are Catholics belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.
State structure
According to the Constitution, Ireland is a parliamentary republic, the head of which is the President, who is elected for a 7-year term.
The executive power belongs to the bicameral Parliament - Oirakhtas, consisting of the Senate (60 people) and the House of Representatives (156 people).
The main political parties are the Labor Party, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party of Ireland, and the Socialist Party.
Climate and weather in Ireland
The climate in Ireland is determined by the Atlantic Ocean and the warm Gulf Stream. As a result, the climate in this country is temperate maritime. The average annual air temperature is +9.6C. The warmest months in Ireland are July and August, when the average air temperature reaches +19C, and the coldest months are January and February (+2C). The average rainfall is 769 mm per year.
Average air temperature in Dublin:
- January - +4C
- February - +5C
- March - +6.5C
- April - +8.5С
- May - +11C
- June - +14С
- July - +15С
- August - +15С
- september - +13C
- october - +11C
- November - +7С
- December - +5С
Seas and oceans
The island of Ireland is washed on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean. In the south, Ireland is washed by the Celtic Sea, and in the east by the Irish Sea. In the southeast, the St. George Canal separates Ireland and Great Britain.
Rivers and lakes
Many rivers flow through Ireland. The largest of these are Shannon, Barrow, Shur, Blackwater, Bunn, Liffey, and Slaney. As for the lakes, of them, first of all, the following should be mentioned: Loch Derg, Loch Mask, Loch Neagh, and Killarney.
Note that Ireland has an extensive network of canals, most of which were built more than 100 years ago.
Story
The first people on the island of Ireland appeared 8 thousand years ago. Then, during the Neolithic, Celtic tribes from the Iberian Peninsula arrived in Ireland. The spread of Christianity in Ireland is associated with the name of St. Patrick, who arrived on this island around the middle of the 5th century.
Since the 8th century, Ireland has been subjected to a century-long invasion of the Vikings. At this time, the country is divided into several counties.
In 1177, a significant part of the territory of Ireland was captured by English troops. In the middle of the 16th century, the British tried to impose Protestantism on the Irish, but they could not do it completely. Thus, to this day, the inhabitants of the island of Ireland are divided into two religious concessions - Catholics and Protestants (in the Republic of Ireland, the majority of the population are Catholics).
In 1801 Ireland became part of Great Britain. It wasn't until 1922, after the Irish War of Independence, that most of Ireland seceded from Great Britain, forming the Irish Free State (but which was part of the Commonwealth of Great Britain). Only in 1949 did Ireland become truly independent. However, Northern Ireland, where the majority of the population is Protestant, is still part of the UK.
In 1973 Ireland was admitted to the EU.
Culture of Ireland
Despite the fact that the British for many centuries tried to include Ireland in their empire, the Irish still managed to maintain their national identity, as well as traditions and beliefs.
The most popular festivals in Ireland are the St. Patrick's Day Festival and Parade, the Galway Oyster Festival, the Cork Jazz Festival, the Bloomsday Festival, and the Dublin Marathon.
Kitchen
Traditional products in Ireland are meat (beef, pork, lamb), fish (salmon, cod), seafood (oysters, mussels), potatoes, cabbage, cheese, dairy products. The most famous Irish dish is Irish stew, which is made from lamb, potatoes, carrots, parsley, onions and cumin.
Another traditional Irish dish is boiled bacon with cabbage. Ireland is also famous for its traditional soda bread and cheesecake.
Everyday non-alcoholic drinks in Ireland are tea and coffee (think of the famous Irish coffee, which includes whiskey, brown sugar and whipped cream). As for alcoholic beverages, the Irish prefer whiskey, beer and ale.
Landmarks of Ireland
Despite the fact that Ireland is a small country, it still has a lot of interesting sights. The top ten of them, in our opinion, are the following:
Cities and resorts
Ireland's largest cities are Cork, Limerick and, of course, Dublin. The largest of them is Dublin, which is now home to about 550 thousand people. In turn, the population of Cork is more than 200 thousand people, and Limerick - about 100 thousand people.
Souvenirs/Shopping
Tourists from Ireland usually bring traditional Irish sweaters from the Aran Island (we recommend buying white Aran sweaters, not colored ones), Waterford Crystal glassware, tweed suits, linen, Irish music CDs, fishing tackle, and, of course, Irish whiskey.
Office Hours
Banks: Mon-Fri: 10:00-16-00 (on Wednesdays - 10:30-16-30).
Some shops in Ireland are open on weekdays until 21:00. Some supermarkets are open 24 hours a day. Bars and pubs in Ireland open at 10:00 (Mon-Sat) and close at 23:00 (Mon-Thur), at 00:30 on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday at 23:00.
Visa
To enter Ireland, Ukrainians need to apply for a visa.
Currency of Ireland
Ireland is a member of the European Union, which means that the euro is used as currency in this country. All major credit cards are widely accepted in the country, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
Customs restrictions
You can import foreign currency into Ireland without restrictions, but you can export no more than what was declared when entering the country. Customs regulations in Ireland are the same as in other EU countries.
It is widely believed that Saint Patrick was the first to bring the Christian faith to Ireland, so he is traditionally referred to as the Apostle of Ireland. Without wishing in any way to belittle the significance of the labors of St. Patrick, we, however, consider it necessary to point out that not long before him, in 431, St. Palladius was sent as a missionary to Ireland by the holy Pope Celestine I of Rome, becoming the first bishop of the Emerald Isle, and performed the sacraments over " Irish people who professed Christ. There must have already been a certain number of Christians in Ireland by the time Saint Patrick came to that country a year later, in 432. Moreover, the apostle of Ireland wrote in one of his letters that the law of God had already been planted in this country "in the old days" and that he did not want to take advantage of the good name of his predecessors. It seems quite probable that St. Patrick was sent to Ireland to suppress the heresy of Pelagius, since at that time Ireland was suspected of inclining to Pelagianism. But, despite the foregoing, Ireland at that time still actually remained a pagan country, and most of its population practiced a religion associated with the cult of nature, where the performers of the rites were the so-called elders, or druids. A century after the death of Saint Patrick, the Christian faith was still only an innovation in some parts of the island.
St. Patrick's main work, as is commonly believed, was the establishment of the Church in Ireland; it is true that he labored chiefly in the North, in the province called Ulster. Most likely, Saint Patrick was trained and instructed in the Christian faith in the south of modern France, in the monastery of the island of Lérins. This great monastery was founded by Saint Honoratus in 375 after his return from Greece, where he met and became close to Orthodox Christian monasticism. Like many future Irish monasteries, Lerins was on a small island. For the next three centuries, Lerins was a true beacon of Orthodox spirituality in a secular Latin environment. One of the greatest figures associated with Lerins was St. John Cassian, who tried to protect the Orthodox faith from the distortions of some of the extreme followers of Blessed Augustine.
At the time when Saints Palladius and Patrick and their companions arrived in Ireland, it consisted of more than a hundred kingdoms of various sizes. The entire people of each state was called "tuath" (the tuath is an Old Irish word, usually translated as "people, tribe, nation." The word "tuath" referred both to the territory occupied by any people, and to the people themselves, which on lived in this area. - Per.), and the kings bore the title "ri" (ri). The society was rigidly organized and divided into ranks, similar to the Vedic castes. At the very top of this system were druids, bards, guardians of order and doctors, and slaves, being at the very bottom of the system, had no rights at all. As historian David Ross noted, the system of territorial dioceses (dioceses) could not take root in ancient Ireland due to the peculiar structure of society. Each people ("tuat") had to be converted to Christianity separately, and each clan had its own structure of the Church, where the druids were easily replaced by priests and bishops.
But the time finally came when in Ireland, instead of many small principalities ruled by petty rulers, there were five kingdoms: Munster in the south of the island, Leinster and Meath in the east, Connaught in the west, and Ulster in the north. In special situations, such as in the reign of Brian Boru (1002–1014), one of the kings could claim sovereignty over all of Ireland, centered on the ancient Tara region in County Meath. This supreme rule was always contested or did not last long. But although the people were politically divided, before the Norman Conquest, the Irish were more or less united by three important factors: the Bregon laws, the Gaelic language, and the Christian faith.
Arriving in Ireland, Saint Patrick began to diligently convert the local population to Christianity, building churches and sowing the seeds of monasticism. His preaching of the Holy Trinity was strictly ecclesiastical and at the same time based on the best in local customs - on such theology the Irish Church was built. Unlike many non-Orthodox missionaries who later preached, St. Patrick respected those customs and traditions of spirituality that he encountered on the Emerald Isle. Instead of driving out or killing the Druids as pagans, he converted them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, Christianity in Ireland arose on canonical foundations and in harmony with the pre-Christian spirituality of the country. Thanks to the total devotion to God and the perseverance of St. Patrick and his disciples, Ireland became a bastion of Christianity. In fact, the Irish Church remained devoted to Orthodox Christianity for several centuries, while the rest of the Western Church, especially from the end of the 8th century, began to gradually move more and more away from the ancient Orthodox Christian faith.
A.D. 500 considered the starting point of the golden age of the Irish Church. During the following century, monasteries were built throughout Ireland. The unparalleled strengthening of Christianity in this part of the world is evidenced by the fact that in the 250 years that have passed since the arrival of St. Patrick here, Eyre (Ireland) has produced about 500 recognized saints. There was not a single martyr among them, with the exception of those who went to the Continent; this confirms the close resemblance between the ancient Christian faith and traditional Irish spirituality.
Connection with the East
By the beginning of the early Middle Ages, called the "Dark Ages" because most of Western Europe was far from the Christian foundations due to ignorance and superstition, the Irish Church preached Orthodox Christianity, being free from Roman formalism and literalism and becoming a truly local form of the Orthodox faith of Constantinople. Subsequent differences were related to church organization. Although the Church of Ireland recognized the Pope as the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in the Western Patriarchate, it did not accept his judicial power, which all of Western Europe subsequently did. This position was similar to the Orthodox view of the Pope as the first among the equal heads of the five ancient Patriarchates: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople. The latter, also called the new Rome, actually rose in honor to a level equal to the old Rome at the IV Ecumenical Council in 451. The main disagreement between Ireland and Rome was the use by Ireland of an outdated and factually incorrect way of calculating the date of Easter, based on an 84-year cycle and a lunar calendar. In contrast to Ireland, the Church of Rome, like the rest of Christendom, used a solar calendar, which ensured that the Christian Easter could not coincide with the Jewish one. This issue eventually became a real bone of contention between Rome and the Celts, from which Rome emerged victorious after the Council in the city of Whitby in the north of England in 664. Until today, the Orthodox Church considers the date of Easter in accordance with ancient custom, and Easter among the heterodox falls one to five weeks earlier than the faithful - Orthodox - Easter. The sacrament of baptism and the rite of ordaining a bishop were performed differently in the Irish and Roman Churches. There was also disagreement about the method of shaving monastic tonsure: Roman tonsure was done by shaving the hair on the top of the head, Irish tonsure was shaved across (in width) the forehead - from ear to ear. These forms were attributed to the holy apostles Peter and John, respectively. The ancient Irish customs of storing holy water until the next Epiphany (January 6) and lighting Easter fires that continued to burn all year round (for example, in Kildare) were also unique. Often, on early Irish crosses, the Savior is depicted more as a conqueror of death than as crucified - another parallel with the universal Orthodox practice of old Rome and other areas, according to which the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ takes precedence over the depiction of His suffering. Easter in Ireland was the main celebration of the church year. This practice changed at the end of the 11th century, when the non-Orthodox began to portray the "Suffering Jesus" in His human suffering as a victim, and not as a Conqueror.
In addition, in the Irish monasteries, at least until the 9th century, Greek theology was studied, as well as Latin and Hebrew. It is interesting to note that in some Irish monastic settlements one could find not only monks and nuns, but also married couples and families. This is yet another parallel between Irish and universal Orthodox practice, according to which married priests are the norm in the Church to this day, without, of course, in any way diminishing the great importance of monasticism for the Church.
The very organization of the Church in Ireland had a monastic character: here the abbot or abbess had the highest authority in the territory given to them. This was in contrast to the structure of the dioceses in the rest of the Orthodox ecclesiastical world, where the bishop is the supreme authority.
Apart from the monastery on the island of Lerins, which was the link between the Irish and other Eastern Churches, another French monastery, Poitiers, was the link between Eastern Orthodoxy and the West. This monastery was the last earthly abode of the great saint and teacher of the church, Hilarius of Poitiers, a bishop exiled to Phrygia by the then unbaptized emperor Constantius after the saint refused to support the heresy of Arianism, with which Constantius sympathized. His predecessor, the holy emperor Constantine the Great, convened the First Ecumenical Council in 325, at which Arianism was condemned as a heresy. Saint Hilary later traveled from Phrygia to Poitiers, where he wrote a book called The Irish Bishops. This is evidence that there was communion between the Irish and Greek-speaking Churches through France as early as the 4th century.
At the beginning of the 6th century, another monastery was founded in Poitiers by the Irish holy missionary Fridolin. Another similarity between Irish and common Orthodox practices is the form of the liturgy. Over the centuries, various Orthodox Churches have preserved a great variety of liturgies, each of which was of ancient origin: the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. James the Apostle, and St. Basil the Great. Evidence of the existence of a pre-Roman liturgy in the Church of Ireland can be found in manuscripts such as the Antiphons of Bangor, a collection of hymns and prayers dating from around 680. These texts describe the Christian vision of the world, reflected in the psalms that praise God's creation, just like in the books of the holy fathers of the Church. Everything created here is seen as a large whole, without the dualism of spirit and matter, which has become the dominant post-patristic medieval Western non-Orthodox cosmology. It would be appropriate to say that the metaphysical (philosophical) system, expounded at length by the Irish philosopher Johann Scott Eriugena, also reflected the knowledge of the unity of all creation. This reinforces our view that Irish Christianity continued the faith of the Church Fathers.
Irish missionary activity
With Ireland as their starting point, Irish missionaries traveled throughout Britain and continental Europe, testifying to the gospel, baptizing people, erecting structures to serve God, and teaching. They often traveled in groups of seven or twelve, not counting the leader, following the example of Christ and the twelve apostles. In 1966 Georges and Bernadette Kerbelaude-Salagnac estimated that approximately 300 Irish missionaries were preaching in Britain and on the Continent. An even greater number of monastic missionaries came from the illustrious monastery of Luxeus (founded by Saint Columban in Belgium around 591).
The most important figures of this unprecedented Irish missionary activity were: Saint Colmkill (Columba), who founded the famous monastery on the island of Iona and enlightened the Scots and Picts; Saint Aidan, who founded a famous monastery on the island of Lindisfarne and enlightened the Northumbrians; Saint Fridolin, who founded monasteries in France and Germany; Saint Furseus, who founded monasteries in East Anglia and Gaul; Saint Kilian, who did colossal missionary work among the Eastern Franks and the inhabitants of Thuringia, ended his life as a martyr; Saint Gall - Enlightener of Switzerland; St. Columban, who founded monasteries in Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, despite tough opposition to him.
Irish missionaries reached the North Atlantic and Scandinavia. The significant contributions made by Saint Brendan the Navigator will be discussed below. According to Dicuil, an Irish scholar at the Carolingian court, Irish settlers lived in the Faroe Islands for several centuries until around 800. Ancient Irish manuscripts on parchment, bells and bishops' robes have been found in Iceland and date back to the pre-Viking era. In the decor of the Norwegian "plank" churches, the Irish influence of the 13th century is visible. It is possible that the Irish contributed to the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity, although we lack historical evidence to support this.
End of the Irish Church
Since 795, Ireland has lived under the constant threat of Viking raids, the first of which was carried out on the island of Lambay near Dublin. For the next 40 years it was subject to indiscriminate raids, and from about 835 the Vikings began to use Ireland as their permanent base. The Norwegian and Danish conquests of Ireland in the 9th and 10th centuries almost destroyed the monastic life of the country. The great centers of monasticism, such as Armagh, Bangor, Clonfert and Clonmacnoise, were sacked and devastated, and many monks perished at the hands of pagan invaders. Even the famous monastic island of Iona in Scotland had to be abandoned by 830. Curious remains of architectural structures have been found in Ireland and in East Anglia once occupied by the Vikings - round towers preserved after raids and conquests. These imposing structures served as a place where people escaped and treasures were preserved, some of which survived both the Vikings and extreme Protestants.
Sometimes the Irish managed to fight back, for example, when the Viking leader Thorgest, who desecrated the Clonmacnoy Monastery and put his wife on the altar, was captured and drowned by the king from the O'Neill dynasty. The positive side of the Viking raids was that they founded the main Irish cities, such as Dublin , Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick, from where they traded with the Irish and their relatives - northerners from the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, etc. As often happens in history, the Lord even turned evil into good. Most of the ancient Irish manuscripts were lost in during this turbulent period, and the remaining ones were taken by the monks with them to the continent.In the early 11th century, King Brian of Munster sent messengers to the continent to buy back some of the ancient manuscripts.
This devastation of the monasteries in Ireland made it possible for the Roman Church, which had long striven for this, to establish itself here, and numerous Augustinian and Benedictine monasteries replaced in Ireland the former, primordially Irish ones.
The departure of the Irish monks to the Continent caused not only attacks by the Vikings, the monks were also attracted by the Carolingian court in France, which invited all learned people from other parts of Western Europe. This explains the presence of famous Irish scholars such as Martin Hiberniensis, Cedulius Scotus, and Johann Scott Eriugena in the French centers of learning in the ninth century. Through their scholarly work on the Continent, the Irish monks put an end to the "Dark Ages".
Most of Western Europe followed Rome in its break with the multinational East, this break was officially confirmed by mutual excommunication in 1054 and ended with the destruction of Constantinople by the Catholic crusaders in 1204. For Western Christianity, this separation from Central European and Greek origins turned out to be truly disastrous from all sides: theological, moral, cultural, and socio-political. But the Irish Church in practical terms remained a completely autonomous Church, although it had already ceased to be in official communion with the Churches of Central Europe, the Eastern Roman Empire and Kievan Rus.
The Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, first under Strongbow in 1170 and then a year later by an Anglo-Norman in descent Henry II of England (1154–1189), came about with the approval of Pope Adrian IV, the only English pontiff willing to lead the Church Ireland under the yoke of Rome. In 1154, Hadrian issued a papal bull calling for the Norman conquest of Ireland so that the "true Christian religion" (that is, Roman Catholicism) would be planted in Ireland.
The first step in the seizure of power by Rome over the Church of Ireland was taken when Lanfranc, an Italian archbishop of Canterbury installed by the Normans, claimed dominion over the Church of Ireland in 1172. At the beginning of the 12th century, Armagh in the north and Cashel in the south were elevated in status as Roman archbishoprics, and Armagh soon became the archdiocese of the Church of Ireland. Long before this, Dublin and Tuam had also become archbishoprics, thereby weakening Canterbury's hold on Ireland, but without diminishing Rome's hegemony. Through the centuries, Armagh has maintained its highest status in both the Catholic and Anglican Churches; both cathedrals here were consecrated in the name of St. Patrick.
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