I’ve been thinking about the conservative missionary and PLE role of irish monasticism. Irish monasticism is actually very Eastern in its origins and influences. It is curious how monasticism both served to bind communities, produce local culture, and provide a means to raise a faithful, Godly ministry. For protestants on this board, we should be reminded the first generation of Reformers were all clergy, and Luther himself was a monk. The itinerary preaching of friars also set the stage for reformation, reviving Godliness via moralistic preaching to lay.
Here is a list of useful, good books on how monastaries stitched and provided a hub for early medieval and antique peasant/farmer villages.
Aside from “how the Irish saved civilization”, the standard books to commence reading is
John Ryan’s “Irish Monasticism: Origins and Early Development.”
Also, “Isle of the Saints” by Lisa Bitel
“The Age of the Saints in the Early Celtic Church” by Nora Chadwick
“Iona, Kells and Derry: The History and Hagiography of the Monastic Familia of Columba” by Kathleen Hughes.
