afterwards,[1] secured the knowledge and use of the Roman
alphabet. The way was clear for the free introduction of
schools and books and learning. "St. Patrick did not do
for the Scots what Wulfilas did for the Goths, and the
Slavonic apostles for the Slavs; he did not translate the
sacred books of his religion into Irish and found a national
church literature.... What Patrick, on the other hand, and
his fellow-workers did was to diffuse a knowledge of Latin
in Ireland. To the circumstance that he adopted this line
of policy, and did not attempt to create a national
ecclesiastical language, must be ascribed the rise of the
schools of learning which distinguished Ireland in the
sixth and seventh centuries."[2]

[1] In 536, fifty monks from the Continent landed at
Cork.--Montalembert, ii. 248n. Migrations from Gaul were frequent
about this time.

[2] Bury, 217; cp. 220.


Mainly owing to the labours of Dr. John Healy, we
now know a good deal about the somewhat slow growth
of the Irish schools to fame; but for our purpose it will do
to learn something of them in their heyday, when at last
we hear certainly of that free use of books which must
have been common for some time. From the sixth to the
eighth century Ireland enjoyed an eminent place in the
world of learning; and the lives and works of her scholars
imply book-culture of good character. St. Columba was