The Irish in England and on the Continent in the Seventh Century: Part II

The first O’Donnell lecture reassessed the role and impact of the Irish on the continent, interrogating previous historiographical biases. The evidence from Anglo-Saxon England provides a useful point of comparison. This second lecture deals with a series of related questions concerning Irish contributions to the spiritual and ecclesiastical worlds on the continent and in Anglo-Saxon England. This paper suggests that the picture was highly complex, with Irish contributions situated within a broader mainstream of practice, one which influenced the Irish as much as the Irish influenced it. They worked within well-established frameworks that were far from moribund.