Editing Ireland (section)

===Late antiquity and early medieval times===
{{Main|History of Ireland (800–1169)}}
[[File:Dalriada.png|right|thumb|upright=0.75|The [[Scoti]] were [[Gaels|Gaelic]]-speaking people from Ireland who settled in western Scotland in the 6th century or before.]]
The earliest written records of Ireland come from classical [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] geographers. [[Ptolemy]] in his ''[[Almagest]]'' refers to Ireland as ''Mikra Brettania'' ("Little Britain"), in contrast to the larger island, which he called ''Megale Brettania'' ("Great Britain").<ref>{{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Philip |title=Ireland and the classical world |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |date=2001 |location=Austin, Texas |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSHhfOM-5AEC&pg=PA65 |isbn=978-0-292-72518-8 |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727155652/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSHhfOM-5AEC&pg=PA65 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Ptolemy's map of Ireland|his map of Ireland]] in his later work, ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'', Ptolemy refers to Ireland as ''[[Hibernia|Iouernia]]'' and to Great Britain as ''Albion''. These 'new' names were likely to have been the local names for the islands at the time. The earlier names, [[Exonym and endonym|in contrast]], were likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made.<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Freeman |title=Ireland and the Classical World |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |date=2001}}</ref>

The [[Ancient Romans|Romans]] referred to Ireland by this name too in its [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] form, ''Hibernia'', or [[Scotia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Hart |first=John |title=Irish Pedigrees: or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation |url=https://archive.org/details/irishpedigreesor02ohar |publisher=J. Duffy and Co. |date=1892 |location=Dublin |page=[https://archive.org/details/irishpedigreesor02ohar/page/725 725]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/JRS/12/Tacitus_Agricola_c24*.html |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=12 |date=1922 |pages=57–59 |title=Tacitus, Agricola, C. 24 |last=Bury |first=J.B. |via=uchicago.edu |access-date=17 October 2018 |jstor=296171 |s2cid=163531116 |archive-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501044014/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/JRS/12/Tacitus_Agricola_c24%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ptolemy records 16 nations inhabiting every part of Ireland in 100 AD.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=R. |last1=Darcy |first2=William |last2=Flynn |title=Ptolemy's Map of Ireland: a Modern Decoding |journal=Irish Geography |volume=14 |issue=1 |date=March 2008 |pages=49–69 |via=Informaworld.com |doi=10.1080/00750770801909375|doi-access=free }}</ref> The relationship between the Roman Empire and the kingdoms of ancient Ireland is unclear. However, a number of finds of Roman coins have been made, for example at the Iron Age settlement of Freestone Hill near [[Gowran]] and [[Newgrange]].<ref>Carson, R.A.G. and O'Kelly, Claire: ''A catalogue of the Roman coins from Newgrange, Co. Meath and notes on the coins and related finds'', pp. 35–55. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 77, section C</ref>

Ireland continued as a patchwork of rival kingdoms; however, beginning in the 7th century, a concept of national kingship gradually became articulated through the concept of a [[High King of Ireland]]. [[Medieval Irish literature]] portrays an almost unbroken sequence of high kings stretching back thousands of years, but some modern historians believe the scheme was constructed in the 8th century to justify the status of powerful political groupings by projecting the origins of their rule into the remote past.<ref name="DOC">{{lang|ga|[[Dáibhí Ó Cróinín]]}}, "Ireland, 400–800", in {{lang|ga|Dáibhí Ó Cróinín}} (ed.), ''A New History of Ireland 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland'', Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 182–234.</ref>

All of the Irish kingdoms had their own kings but were nominally subject to the high king. The high king was drawn from the ranks of the provincial kings and ruled also the royal [[kingdom of Meath]], with a ceremonial capital at the [[Hill of Tara]]. The concept did not become a political reality until the [[Viking Age#Ireland|Viking Age]] and even then was not a consistent one.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Jaski |first=Bart |date=2005 |title=Kings and kingship |editor=Seán Duffy |encyclopedia=Medieval Ireland. An Encyclopedia |location=Abingdon and New York |pages=251–254 [253] }}</ref> Ireland did have a culturally unifying rule of law: the early written judicial system, the [[Brehon Laws]], administered by a professional class of jurists known as the ''brehons''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ginnell |first=Laurence |author-link=Laurence Ginnell |title=The Brehon Laws: A Legal Handbook |publisher=[[T. Fisher Unwin]] |date=1894 |page=[https://archive.org/details/brehonlawsalega00ginngoog/page/n93 81] |url=https://archive.org/details/brehonlawsalega00ginngoog}}</ref>

''[[The Chronicle of Ireland]]'' records that in 431, Bishop [[Palladius (bishop of Ireland)|Palladius]] arrived in Ireland on a mission from [[Pope Celestine I]] to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ".<ref>{{CathEncy |wstitle=St. Palladius |title=St. Palladius |first=Patrick Francis |last=Moran}}</ref> The same chronicle records that [[Saint Patrick]], Ireland's best known [[Patron saints of places|patron saint]], arrived the following year. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the consensus is that they both took place<ref>{{cite book |last=De Paor |first=Liam |title=Saint Patrick's World: The Christian culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age |publisher=[[Four Courts Press]] |date=1993 |location=Dublin |pages=78, 79 |isbn=978-1-85182-144-0}}</ref> and that the older [[druid]] tradition collapsed in the face of the new religion.<ref name="cah">{{cite book |last=Cahill |first=Tim |title=How the Irish Saved Civilization |date=1996 |publisher=Anchor Books |isbn=978-0-385-41849-2}}</ref> Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology. In the monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Ireland, Latin and Greek learning was preserved in Ireland during the [[Middle Ages|Early Middle Ages]] in contrast to elsewhere in Western Europe, where the [[Early Middle Ages|Dark Ages]] followed the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]].<ref name="cah"/><ref name="Eer">{{cite book|editor=Dowley, Tim |title=Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity |date=1977 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-8028-3450-8 |display-editors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/eerdmanshandbook00work }}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2019}}

[[File:KellsFol032vChristEnthroned.jpg|thumb|right|A folio of the [[Book of Kells]] showing Christ enthroned]]
The arts of [[Illuminated manuscript|manuscript illumination]], metalworking and sculpture flourished and produced treasures such as the ''[[Book of Kells]]'', ornate jewellery and the many carved stone crosses<ref>{{cite book |last=Stokes |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Stokes |title=Early Christian Art in Ireland |publisher=Chapman and Hall |date=1888 |location=London |pages=9, 87, 117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25gTAAAAQAAJ |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205182750/https://books.google.com/books?id=25gTAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> that still dot the island today. A mission founded in 563 on [[Iona]] by the Irish monk Saint [[Columba]] began [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|a tradition of Irish missionary]] work that spread [[Celtic Christianity]] and learning to [[Scotland]], [[Anglo-Saxon England|England]] and the [[Frankish Empire]] on continental Europe after the fall of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Bartlett |title=Ireland: A History |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-19720-5}}</ref> These missions continued until the [[late Middle Ages]], establishing monasteries and centres of learning, producing scholars such as [[Sedulius Scottus]] and [[Johannes Eriugena]] and exerting much influence in Europe.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

From the 9th century, waves of [[Viking]] raiders plundered Irish monasteries and towns.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ó Corráin |first=Donnchadh |author-link=Donnchadh Ó Corráin |title=Vikings & Ireland |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/General%20Vikings%20in%20Ireland.pdf |access-date=19 March 2010 |archive-date=3 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403032850/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/General%20Vikings%20in%20Ireland.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> These raids added to a pattern of raiding and [[endemic warfare]] that was already deep-seated in Ireland. The Vikings were involved in establishing most of the major coastal settlements in Ireland: [[Dublin]], [[Limerick]], [[County Cork|Cork]], [[Wexford]], [[Waterford]], as well as other smaller settlements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire800.htm |title=Ireland's History in Maps (800 AD) |website=Rootsweb.ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry Publishing |date=6 December 1998 |access-date=15 August 2011 |archive-date=9 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809201152/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire800.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=October 2019}}