22/05/2024 14:15 - 16:30

HALL: FATESI - MAUROLICO B

Proponent: Cupples A.

Chair: Cupples A., Swift C.

Speaker: Cupples A., Swift C., Watson D., Xu J.

Throughout history, the early Irish church has often been perceived as heterodox or idiosyncratic to a degree e.g. the ecclesiastical historian Kathleen Hughes summarises medieval Ireland as 'odd'. Its idiosyncrasies have often been seized upon by historians and other academics with political agendas, or biases. Meanwhile there remains a desideratum in the study of the early Irish church from all disciplines, particularly its theology. Furthermore, Thomas O'Loughlin bemoans that they are mostly written from a narrow disciplinary field. This panel aims to address these desiderata by presenting papers from multiple disciplines and institutions to promote the theological study of the early Irish church considering recent innovations, identifying paradigm shifts in its study and within its historical theology itself. One such recent innovation is the edition and translation of the largest collection of early medieval Irish canonical law which will be addressed by one of the papers arguing that Ireland was more orthodox than previously thought. Another paper will attempt to recreate arguably the oldest depiction of an Irish Eucharist to determine if there was a theological shift introduced by the Carolingian Renaissance. Early Irish theology is of present significance, e.g. its potential to be a unifying force in the peace process in Northern Ireland, its foundational role in the formation of European identity and Ireland's place on the world stage.