Christianity in Ireland before St. Patrick

On Thursday, March 16, 2023, at Samuel’s Public Library from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., public servant Connie Marshner shared the information gleaned from two years of online study with a captive audience. The subject was Christianity in Ireland before St. Patrick, in which Connie deconstructed the idea that Christianity began with Patrick, revealing instead that Ireland was deeply influenced by the east well before the saint arrived.

Connie Marshner (left) and Erin Rooney, Adult Reference Supervisor at Samuels Public Library. Photo by Brenden McHugh.

Using a quote from a pope dated well before Patrick’s arrival as a slave in Ireland, in which the pope addressed a Christian community already established there, Connie established a cornerstone for her assertion. Within that context, a story unfolds in which monasticism spreads from the deserts of Egypt to the island, leading Ireland to become a force to be reckoned with in the history of Christianity. She also traced the pre-Christian background of the country, its immersion in the practice of slavery, and its Brehon law that Christian priests, the new druids, would later preserve.

As the lecture progressed, it became obvious from the images of architecture and illuminated manuscripts that Connie shared that whatever rebuttals various scholars might make to her theory, an intimate relationship existed between Ireland and Egypt, at least in its Christian manifestation. While the relationship between the two lands may be the subject of conjecture beforehand, at least after the faith began to spread, there was a palpable connection between east and west, revealed heavily in shared symbolism and practices woven throughout the cultural record.

Connie was pleased with the turnout and how engaged, and inquisitive her audience turned out to be. “They were very attentive,” she said afterward as people lingered to examine a table displaying the library’s book resources on the history of Ireland and several books that Connie brought to showcase, detailing specifically the religious history of Ireland. “Sometimes you can tell when you’ve lost the audience,” she said. “Nobody fell asleep.”

Connie has an M.A. in Gaelic Literature from University College Cork. She has been seen serving on the town of Front Royal’s planning commission.

Erin Rooney, Adult Reference Supervisor at the library, said, “It’s just been a very big pleasure to be able to have a program that is of interest to the community.” She said, “We love being able to provide programs of all interests to our community. It’s close to St. Patrick’s Day. Irish history is a prominent interest in the area.”

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