SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENT IN GLENDALOUGH ... - Ian Cantwell

The above hypothesisofChristianity arriving in the area before St. Coemgen can neverbe proved due to the lack of sources though it is possible that archaeologicalexcavation may expand our knowledge in the future. This period belongs to the, littleknown, early Christian conversion of areas outside the Roman Empire whenevangelisation was uncommon and the role of Rome was solely the provision ofBishops to communities who requested them 85 . We therefore know little of whatpeople were converted from or converted to as in Christianity, Arian and Pelagasiancreeds were the competingwith Rome 86 . It was at this time Palladius, first knownBishop ofIreland, was ministering in LeinsterS' and whose influence may have beenthe background to Glendalough'smost famoussaint, St. Coemgen.St Coemgen aDd the HagiographiesAccording to the Irish Annals St. Coemgen died either in 618 or 622, aged 120 years,which Mac Shambrain suggests is due to uncertainty in computauon 88 . If it ispresumed that he livedan average age ofaround 60 yearsthan he would have foundedGlendaloughin the 580s. This would have been after the ecological collapse associatedwith the 542 event 89 which is believed to be the precursor ofthe Justinian Plague aboutwhich the Irish Annalspithily say that two-thirds ofthe world died 90 . Whether this hadthe effect ofinfluencing people towards monasticlife is unclear.The main source for the life of St. Coemgen comes from various surviving Vitae inIrish and Latin. These hagiographies can not be taken as biographies as they reflect theconcerns ofthe compilerswho were writing from around 800 91 . These concerns mirrorthe agendas of the compiler when he was writing as well as later copyists. These85pjetcher Ric~ TheConversion ofEurope, London, 1997, pp. 25 &. O'Cromin, op. cit. p. 4086ibid~ pp. 6-9870~C~ 0,. cit pp. 20-238~S~ op.cit, pp. 2-389saime M. A Slice tIrrofIgh Time. Londo~ 1995, pp. 93..59OCantwe1l I, Climate Changeand the Gaelic Annals, (1998)p. 2691MacS~ op. cit. basa valuable discussion onthedating of the various vitae,))p. 4..1026