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At a time of year when Irishness is celebrated far and wide, especially in the US, perhaps St. Columbanus deserves as much attention as St. Patrick. While Patrick may be Ireland’s patron saint, it was Columbanus (543-615) who arguably was the first champion of Irish identity, notes University College Cork medieval historian Damian Bracken, the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at Boston College this spring.
An expert in Hiberno-Latin literature, Bracken has done considerable research on Columbanus, widely regarded as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe. He is using the resources at Burns Library to continue his ongoing studies of the major influences on Columbanus, the basis of his forthcoming book. Bracken also is teaching a senior seminar, Irish Identity Formation and Expression, which explores how the arrival of Christianity and literacy affected the Irish.
In a recent interview with the Chronicle’s Sean Smith, Bracken talked about the legacy of Columbanus, whose life and times sound tailor-made for a TV mini-series.
Q: How was Columbanus so important to the formation of Irish identity?
Bracken: He was the first Irishman to describe himself as Irish. He was the first to investigate the meaning of “Irish” in writing. He was the earliest Irish writer to leave a sizeable, identifiable corpus of material. And he was the first Irishman we know of to be the subject of a scholarly work, Jonas of Bobbio’s Life of Columbanus and his Disciples, written in the middle of the seventh century. Columbanus was a foundational figure for Ireland, especially in a Western, Christian context.
Q: Give us a quick biographical sketch.
Bracken: His is really a remarkable life. He’s born in what is now part of Leinster, coming from a noble background, goes to the north of Ireland to study under Sinell, the abbot of Cluaninis, and then winds up in Bangor Abbey, where he stays until about age 50. Now, he could’ve just happily stayed there for the rest of his days, but he has what might be called a mid-life crisis – he wants something more, a challenge.
Since they didn’t have fast cars or skydiving back then, he packs his bags and heads off to the continent with 12 followers, and they establish these very significant spiritual centers, places of great learning. This requires a lot of resources – holy men don’t come cheap – but he has the backing of major powers and is able to state his case.
It’s not all smooth sailing: He gets in a dispute with the French bishops, then later on runs afoul of the French royal family, then he jumps ship ahead of deportation and goes Germany, Austria, the Alps and eventually to Italy, where he stays until his death.
His career is significant, but his fame is based more on what he left behind in his works. Basically, he crafted a guide for how to run a monastery, and a manual for confessors that became very influential – it allows for private confession and private penance.
The thing about Columbanus is, for him Christianity was about being in service to others, living your life heroically. There was an absolute right and an absolute wrong, and there was no point in preaching unless you put it into practice.
Q: What do we know about him as a person?
Bracken: The consensus is that he’s prickly, he’s not someone to kick back and have a casual chat with. And he wasn’t one for backing down, as we see from his troubles in France. When you write to the high and mighty, you better have a good angle, and he basically said, “In Ireland, we’re used to speaking frankly.”
Q: So that relates to what you mean about Columbanus expressing the Irish identity in his various writings?
Bracken: Remember, Ireland at this time is for all intents and purposes at the very end of the earth – there’s nothing beyond it, as far as anyone knows. Ireland is on the periphery. And he’s writing for a sophisticated, continental audience, telling them – at first – what they want to hear, engaging in some pretty complex wordplay, complimenting them in a backhanded way.
Essentially, he challenges people to think about what is being taught at the periphery, where there’s no access to the kind of culture that’s in Europe. On the one hand, he tells them, “I’m Irish, I’m uneducated” in a self-deprecating kind of way, when of course he was very learned. But he puts them on notice that they’re not meeting standards they’re meant to uphold.
If Christianity’s mission to reach all peoples, he says, then Ireland is all the more important: For all its might, the Roman Empire never conquered Ireland, so on that score, Christianity is greater than the empire because of the influence it has on Ireland.
Q: How did Columbanus influence later manifestations of Irish identity?
Bracken: Ironically, Columbanus was generally better known outside Ireland. But the period of Irish history that Columbanus represented, the Golden Age, became a very potent symbol in modern Ireland’s attempt to assert its unique cultural identity in the 19th and 20th centuries, that led, in time, to attempts to assert political independence. Formative figures like Columbanus became vital as touchstones of Irish identity and culture, at a time when these came under increasing strain.
Columbanus and his world was a very attractive one to modern people because it reflects an identity that is confident and remarkably creative, but not chauvinistic. He and his followers took what they were given and, instead of turning inward, they brought it back to Europe through their missionary work.
Q: Have you always been interested in history?
Bracken: Yes, for as long as I can remember. But I was inspired by a superb teacher, Jennifer O’Reilly, to look at the medieval period in particular, and I was drawn increasingly backwards to before 750 AD and the period when Irish writers in Latin responded creatively and imaginatively to the learning and literature that came in the wake of Christianity. To my mind, anything worth writing and saying is done by then.
Q: This is your second sojourn at Boston College, right?
Bracken: Yes, I was here in the summer of 2013 as a research fellow with the Center for Irish Programs, but I spent most of that time slaving over a hot copier in Burns. When the opportunity to serve as Burns Visiting Scholar came along, I was only too glad to take it, and be able to make more use of the Burns resources. Given the richness of the collections here, I couldn’t think of a better place to continue my research and writing – and with all these constant snowstorms, there couldn’t have been a better way to spend my time indoors.
Q: One last question about Columbanus: Is it true he’s the patron saint of motorcyclists?
Bracken: Yes, it’s true. The archbishop of Armagh took part in a ceremony in Bobbio – the town in northern Italy where Columbanus died – in 2004 where Columbanus was declared to be the saint you pray to if your motorbike's engine makes a funny noise. I think it's because Columbanus travelled so far across Europe, from the very north to the south – although it might be bad form to point out that he didn't do it on a motorbike.
Damian Bracken will present the annual Burns Chair in Irish Studies Lecture, “Outside the Empire: Ireland and the Subversion of Christian Identity,” on March 24 at 4 p.m. in the Burns Library Thompson Room.