The Origins of Early Christian Ireland.

THIS book is unusual and courageous. It is an attempt to tackle a single major problem in Irish history from a fundamentally archaeological standpoint, but also making use of written evidence. The problem is the contrast between Iron Age and Early Christian Ireland, namely between the period up to the fourth century AD and the succeeding period from the fifth century to the Viking attacks and settlements. In archaeological terms the contrast is one between an Iron Age which appears to have produced relatively few durable artefacts and an Early Christian period which saw the emergence of a much richer material culture.

The explanation offered by Dr Mytum differs to some extent from the usual view that conversion to Christianity was the crucial cause of change. The conversion of the Irish was the major, but not the sole, element in a broader influence of Britain upon Ireland; this influence stemmed as much from the …