The Irish standard., 1894-10-13
A FAMOUS SCHOOL
Established in the City of Cork BY
st. Finn Barr During the
Dark Ages.

i Dark Ages.
| THE GOLDEN AGE OF IRELAND,
: Students From All Nations Re-
.ceived Gratuitous instruction
in the City on the Lee.
! The. l'nl of Cork, called also Loeb
Eirche, WI. 'Hspnded A. d. $40, by St.
Finn Barr, t4 chop and Patron OF
Cork. The dege, perfection to
which the saint had bl -. previous
to his death in the year 6ae,. de it the
wonder end admiration Of the :. ,thern
Kingdom of Desmond, and numb OF
students from Cork, Kerry and Tipt, 8;
ary, repaired to it's halls, there to imbibe
the priceless treasu, es of philosophy and
wisdom. In their wake came the youth
of Rome, Gaul and Spain, for at that
time but few schools exhibited on the
Continent. The dismem berment OF the
Roman Empire threw education con-
pletely into the back k-ground, says j. 2
Hayes, IN. the Cork Examiner, and the
consequence was that those who we're
desirous Of acquiring the blessings OF
education we're compelled to seek the
shores of Ireland for that purpose, where,
according to no less an authority than
the Venerable Bede, they were kindly
received and supplied with food, clothing
and their teac' ing gratis.
This was the golden age of ireland,
when our island earned for itself the
glorious title of Insula Sanctorum ct
| Doctotum. But if it was the golden age
of Ireland, it was also the dark age OF
Europe for the proud Empire OF Rome
was just then tottering to it's fall. 1t was
time when all Europe was convulssd
from the shores of the German Ocean
and Bay of Terrors to the Steppee Of
Siberia and confines of the Celestial EN-
pire, and from Che placid Mare Magnum
and sunny Eu1ine tp the regions OF ics
which encompass the North Pole. Re-
ligion and learning, amidst all this gloom
and desoIation were entirely forgotten.
Mems minds were actuated by no other
desires than tn go of plunder y, d epoiis-
tion. The churches and universities Of
the entire Continent fell q prey to the
rapacity of the Cloths and the Vandals,
the Franks and the Huns; and Rome, the
proud metropolis OF the world. quailed
terror before the triumphal march Of
Attila, 'sThe Scourage Of Cod The
outlying provinces of of the Empire were
seized upon by the intrepid SONS OF the
North; and the proud city itself was be-
sleged by horde after horde OF savage
bsrbarans, and it's innumerable treas
ures from every region of the then know II
| world-tleasures which it took over q
thousand years to. collset-wera borne
away to distant nations and portioned
out to unscrupulous adventures, whose
swords were foremost in causing the gen.
eral destruction
But, in the midst of its darkness and
tr;bn'stion, Europe looked to she west.
ward fos light and assistance. 1t looked
wiatfully t. a glorious island in the Tar
Mhuir, or Western Ocean, which shone
as with the brightness Of star above
the bedarkened horizon. And that is
land was ireland, the Tome OF philosophy
and wisdom, the devoted mother OF
"Salnts and Doctors of a'od." Yes, IN
it's tribulstion, Europe appealed to Ire
land for assistance, and well ane truly
did Ireland respond to it's appeal. EEor.n
went holy men in scores fromthe schos. rs
of Armagh, Achad Duirbchon (Gougane
Barra) Bangor, Olonn1acnoise, Cork, and
Lismore, ''to restore" as the learned
CORES says, ''the effulgent light OF
Christianity over the bedarkened forests
of Europe" Indeed, there is scarcely q
country from Naples to Christiana, from
Lisbon to Moscow, that does not owe
some of it's civilization to the .labors OF
the Irish monks fresh from
Those great tounts of love
Iona, Bangor, Clonm acnoise,
Ardmacha and Lismore.
This is no idle boast; it is an estab-
lished fact. History records that one
hundred of them preached in Scotland
ffty-nine in England. ninety.two II
Germany, seventy eight in France, fifty,
nine in the Netherlands, twenty-sH in
Iceland, thirteen in Burgundy, eleven IN
Friesland, ten in Italy, and five IN Lor'
raire. North Britain was eyangelized
by the renowned st. Columbia, who
founded the University of Iona, which
according to the celebrated DR.. Samuel
johnson, twas once the luminary OF the
ICaledonian regions, whence savage clani
and rowing barbarians derived the bene
Ifts Of knowledge and the blessings q q
religion"
The School Of Cork contributed il 4