[NR] re: Historical accuracy was .

[Decker, Terry D.]

> At 08:56 AM 6/6/01 -0500, Terry/Bear wrote:
> >>Cahill, Thomas, How the Irish Saved Civilization
>
> Remember what I said about being careful.  This book is
> excellent food for
> thought, but you might want to keep the salt handy...
>
> Marc/Diarmaid

True enough, but arguable.  I don't happen to subscribe Cahill's theories,
but, IMO, the book represents a readily available source of information of
pre-Lindisfarne Christian Ireland.  I also think the description of how
Europe moved from Roman government to feudalism is pretty good fare for a
beginner.

Serious points of contention are:  how St. Patrick is presented and ignoring
the work of other religious enclaves in preserving knowledge to emphasize
the value of the Celtic Church.

The book left me with a couple of questions which I haven't tried to answer
(yet).  Did the structure of the Celtic Church before the Synod of Whitby,
promote to a greater degree than other Christian churches?  Did Patrick take
advantage of Brehon law to convert the Irish?

In any event, ever Irishman knows it was Brian Boru who saved civilization
by trashing those pesky, pagan Danes at Clontarf (here, have a salt shaker
on me).

Bear