story of the transformed hag would be most effective if
only Niall enjoyed her favor, but it is modified here
because its author is constrained by the known tradition
that Niall was succeeded as king by Fiachra’s son Dath
Í and that Dath Í’s son Ailill Molt was also king.
TOMÁSÓ CATHASAIGH
References and Further Reading
Carney, James. Studies in Irish Literature and History.Dublin:
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1955.
Mac Cana, Proinsias. The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland.
Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1980.
McCone, Kim. Echtrae Chonnlai and the Beginnings of Ver-
nacular Narrative Writing in Ireland.Maynooth: Maynooth
Monographs, 2001.
Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás. The Heroic Biography of Cormac mac
Airt.Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1977.
Rees, Alwyn, and Brinley Rees. Celtic Heritage. London:
Thames and Hudson, 1961.
See alsoAideds; Connachta; Immrama;
Uí Néill; Ulster Cycle
EARLY CHRISTIAN ART
Because the term “Early Christian” has been used by
archaeologists to denote the period from roughly
400 A.D. to 1169 A.D., confusion has arisen about what
constitutes Irish Early Christian Art—the term has
been applied indiscriminately to buildings, metalwork,
manuscripts, and even weapons of different periods.
By transferring the term from Early Christian Europe,
where it has a definite meaning, the specifically Christian
aspects have been confused and the transformations
that took place in Irish society and in the Irish church
over a period of almost eight hundred years have been
glossed over.
Irish Christian art is richly allusive—partly abstract,
partly figurative, and subtly symbolic in style. In its
decorative elements it is often playful and sophisti-
cated. Although it is sometimes difficult to see, it
reflects contemporary European traditions fairly
closely and was not an isolated and impoverished tra-
dition. It was, however, one of the last barbaric arts of
Western Europe, and its animal ornament has often
misled commentators to confuse its pagan origins with
a strong underground paganism when all the patterns
had become naturalized in a Christian milieu.
The Missionary Period: Later Fourth
to Sixth Centuries A.D.
Irish art at the time of the arrival of the first formal
Christian missions was best expressed in metalwork—
the art form typically associated with aristocratic, war-
rior societies. The style seems to have combined a
strong provincial Roman influence from Britain with
elements of survival of the La Tène style of the Iron
Age to create a late flowering of curvilinear abstract
ornament that has been termed Ultimate La Tène. We
can only speculate on the nature of earliest Christian
art, as dating evidence does not support any very early
attributions of sculpture with Christian symbols. The
missionaries must have brought with them codices,
altar vessels, and vestments—all the requirements for
the practice of the liturgy—not to mention novel ideas
about buildings for public worship and the disposal of
the dead. None of this survives; all we have are echoes
in later literature. The seventh-century writer, Tíre-
chán, states that square patens and book covers made
by St. Patrick’s bronzesmith, Assicus, were to be seen
in Elphin and Armagh. Armagh preserved relics of SS.
Peter and Paul said to have been brought by Patrick
himself. A mid-seventh century description of the
church of Kildare describes a sophisticated wooden
structure with the tombs of its founding saints lying
before the altar. Over them hung crowns. The church
was also decorated with images, presumably paint-
ings. A penannular brooch from Arthurstown, County
Carlow, carries a simple cross motif on its terminals.
It is arguably of fifth- or sixth-century date. The
appearance of Christian symbols on personal orna-
ments is part of a widespread Christian practice to
afford protection to the wearer.
Simple crosses on pillar stones are still, often with-
out clear justification, dated to the sixth or seventh
century, but likely early examples are to be seen at
Reask, County Kerry. One Reask pillar has incised
scrollwork and a cross of arcs in a circle, while another
fragment has a pair of birds flanking a cross, a funda-
mental Christian motif. A tall inscribed pillar at
Kilnasaggart, County Armagh, can be confidently
dated, but it is much later. An inscription on it records
a certain Ternoc, perhaps he whose death is recorded
in 714 or 716 A.D. The pillar is likely to be the earliest
firmly dated stone sculpture in Ireland.The Seventh Century
The seventh century saw a progressive enrichment of the
repertoire of Irish craftsmen as Irish missionary activity
in northern Britain (begun in the sixth century by St.
Colum Cille) and mainland Europe brought Ireland into
contact with the wider world. Our earliest surviving
manuscripts, the Cathach(a psalter associated in legend
with St. Colum Cille) and the fragmentary gospel book,
Codex Usserianus Primus, date to the early seventh cen-
tury. They already show distinctive traits of script and
ornament in embryo but clearly also echo Mediterranean
influences, in particular the large-dot-outlined red cross
with pendant alpha and omega in the Ussher manuscript
and the dolphin-like beast in the Cathach.ECHTRAI