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Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity

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For many years, there has been a fascination with ‘Celtic Christianity’, construed by some as a spirituality of semi – pagan sensibilities – without rules, never united with Rome, and aligned with ecological and feminist concerns.  However, this fascinating book presents convincing evidence that the earliest Christians in Ireland came from the Mediterranean and brought with them deep asceticism, fervent devotion to the Mother of God, and the Gallican liturgy, along with beehive huts, high crosses, and manuscript decoration.  Careful footnotes and a collection of resources are presented for further exploration.

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SKU: 979 8 88911 158 0 Categories: , ,

From the beginning of Celtic scholarship in English, there was mention of Egyptians in ancient Ireland. However, allusion to “seven Egyptian monks in Desert Uilaidh” in the Litany of the Céile Dé from the seventh century Book of Leinster was dismissed as merely symbolic.

But evidence continues to accumulate that connections with the Mediterranean in ancient Ireland were real.

Archaeology documents frequent commerce between Ireland and the whole Mediterranean world from prehistory forward. Over the years, more and more similarities, links, and borrowings between ancient Ireland and the East have been found in art, architecture, literature, and liturgy, hymnody, and monastic custom.

From the art in the Book of Kells to some passages in the Antiphonary of Bangor to images on Irish high crosses, there are parallels too close and too frequent to ignore.

Monastery and High Cross is a cross-disciplinary meta-analysis of English-language research into these questions over the last one hundred and sixty years.  It reviews scholarship in history, art, architecture, monastic traditions, liturgical and literary allusions, and assembles a comprehensive and thought-provoking collection of evidence.

Product Details

Author: Connie Marshner

Publication Date: 2024

ISBN: 979 8 88911 158 0

240pages

Publisher: Sophia Institute Press

Weight 0.3 kg
Dimensions 21.59 × 5.08 × 13.97 cm

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Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish ChristianityMonastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity
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