As against the contradiction, anachronisms and extravagances of the
Lives we have to put the fact that generally speaking the latter
corroborate one another, and that they receive extern corroboration from
the annals. Such disagreements as occur are only what one would expect
to find in documents dealing with times so remote. To the credit side
too must go the fact that references to Celtic geography and to local
history are all as a rule accurate. Of continental geography and
history however the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but
scarcely quite as much as the corresponding ignorance shown by
Continental writers about Ireland.

The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its monastic or
semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as peculiar, if not
unique. A missionary system more or less similar must however have
prevailed generally in that age. What other system could have been
nearly as successful amongst a pagan people circumstanced as the Irish
were? The community system alone afforded the necessary mutual
encouragement and protection to the missionaries. Each monastic station
became a base of operations. The numerous diminutive dioceses,
quasi-dioceses, or tribal churches, were little more than extensive
parishes and the missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction
than glorified parish priests. The bishop's 'muintir,' that is the
members of his household, were his assistant clergy. Having converted
the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to instruct
and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for them. Land and
materials for the church were provided by the Clan or the Clan's head,
and lands for support of the missioner or of the missionary community
were allotted just as they had been previously allotted to the pagan
priesthood; in fact there can be but little doubt that the lands of the
pagan priests became in many cases the endowment of the Christian