Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1911-03-17
HERITAGE
OF the GaeIs Was Lost When thc
Ancient Irish Monas-
ucism Fell.
Early saints Worked Wonders
both In and Out Of
Ireland.
Religious Orders Leave Their Seal
Upon Both Lands and
Communities.
CAN OLD SPIRIT BE REVIVED

The religious history Of Ireland
has been written and rewritten, yet
one aspect Of the story has never been
more than incidentally touched upon.
IL has not been made clear why re-
llgion,f as It is today IN Ireland, is
not colored by the national spirit
and Is no more Irish In expression
than Il is French or Italian. To
study the causes that have brought
a bout this state OF things Is profitable
as well as interesting, it Will help
explain why Ireland In this respect,
as in some others, has her eyes
turned toward the ends OF the earth. 4"
The threads Of history must be gath
cred up through many hundred years
II we are to follow the course Of the
Irish religious spirit from Gaelicism
TO Cosmopolbanism.
Nearly two centuries before the
time OF st. Benedict, who IS consid-
cred the patriarch of religious life
of Western Europe, monasticism was
practiced in ireland. Almost from
the days of st. Patrick monks built
groups OF waffle cells along the Irish
shores and lived under a hard COM
mon rule. With the rise Of the
schools OF the early Irish monks
monastic establishments sprang up
all over the island Some venture
some spirits like st. BOniface. st.
Gall and St Columbkille carried
their religious rules into other lands.
During a period of 600 years the
Irish monasteries were centers OF
light and learning for Europe. Stu
dents were sent to Ireland to finish
their education and Irish scholars
were invited to teach in foreign
lands.
Pursuing thus their way on their
own lines the monks Of the Gael de-
veloped their peculiar religious
spirit II was wholly their own, for
as their requirements placed them in
the position of teachers and not OF
the taught they owed but little to
outside Influence. Even the monas-
teries founded by them abroad main
tanned the Gaelic spirit, spreading II
around them rather than 2eceiying
Thus the Island OF Saints" held It's
pre-emlnence in the world of relig-
ious thought up TO the ninth cen,
fury Disaster came with the Dane
and cast its shadow over the land
that shadow has never been entirely
lifted.
Religious Orders are the great
transmitters OF national religious
traditions. When they are OF the
soil, and have been founded by men
Of the country, they embody and
perpetuate the characteristics of re
liglous life natural to the land itself
Their traditions are the local tradi
lions, their devotions those of the
people about them, their saints art
Of the race Thus they maintain
the continuity of national religious
life and foster the memory OF theil
oountry's religious history. In Ire
land there was nothing from the
twelfth century EDWARDS; the ma
tive orders persisted; the roots of the
great monastic institutions of the
Gael were torn up; continuity be
tween them and their successors wa
broken The Gaelic religious pas
ceased to have a place in the relig
Ious present
Not only were Norman Abboti
placed over Irish monasteries, bu
NoTmans were made Bishops ovei
Irish sees. St. Lawrence O'Tool,
was succeeded as Archbishop o
Dublin by John Comyn In short III.
administration of the Irish church
taN u a.
Though the invaders eventually be
came more Irish than the Irish them
selves, they could NOS revive tn,
Irish spirit OF the past Later came
the STRESS OF the Penal days. an(
what remained of old Irish abbeyi
and monasteries were destroyed.a
Is Il possible now to go back e
the past7 Is Il possible for Irishmer
10 recover at least a part of theii
lost heritage? Irishmen may vel
look upon the saints OF the Gael a,
the expression of all that Is best II
the Irish people. They have carrieC
the characteristics OF the Gaelic PEG
pie to a height OF heroic perfection
Their nature was the Irish nature
and though many hundred year,
have passed since they lived the race
can not so have changed as 70 b.
Incapable OF sympathy with them
The spirit OF the early Irish saint
was large, deep and strong. Thos'
men had wide outlook and wer'
built on great lines. They had The
soil and the work Of the land, a
they loved learning. and they wer'
IN intimate touch with nature. Cai
the old spirit be revived? Well. mai
Ireland a nation once again and tina
nation will again furnish the worl,
with saints and scholars.