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Podcast: New Books in Western European Studies
Episode: Edel Bhreathnach, "Monasticism in Ireland, AD 900-1250" (Four Courts Press, 2024)
Description: The history of monasticism in early Ireland is dominated by its flourishing during the sixth and seventh centuries, a period dominated by Columba of Iona and Columbanus of Bobbio, and later by the 'reform' spearheaded by Malachy of Armagh during the twelfth century. But what of monasticism in Ireland during the intervening period? Regarded as different from ' mainstream' Anglo-Saxon and continental monasticism, monastic life in Ireland has not been fully understood in scholarly discussions about the existence of distinct ' monasticisms' throughout Christianity. The Irish sources, many written in the vernacular, are not accessible and are v...