Ireland before Christianity: politics, society and religion

Overview

Ireland's relationship to the Roman empire, basis of social rank in early Irish society and system of clientship.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What was Ireland's relationship to the Roman empire?

   Model answer

   Ireland was never conquered or governed by Rome, so it had no provincial administration, no towns and no coinage. Trade, raiding and the movement of slaves nevertheless kept Ireland in regular contact with Roman Britain and Gaul.

2. 2

   Why does Ireland's position outside the empire matter for the shape of its church?

   Model answer

   The Roman church elsewhere organised itself around the city and its territory, with a bishop for each civitas. Ireland offered no such unit, so the church that developed there had to attach itself to kingdoms, kin-groups and eventually monasteries instead.

3. 3

   How was Ireland governed in the fifth century?

   Model answer

   Ireland was divided into a large number of small kingdoms called túatha, each with its own king. Lesser kings owed submission to over-kings and to the rulers of the larger provincial groupings, so power was layered rather than centralised.

4. 4

   What was the basis of social rank in early Irish society?

   Model answer

   Rank was defined by birth, property and the size of a person's following, and every free person had an honour price that fixed the compensation owed for an injury to them. Kings, nobles, freemen with land and the unfree formed a graded order.

5. 5

   Explain the system of clientship.

   Model answer

   A lord granted cattle to a client, who in return owed food render, labour and support. Clientship bound society together vertically and made cattle rather than land or money the working measure of wealth.

6. 6

   Which learned classes held authority alongside the king?

   Model answer

   The filid or poets, the brehons who declared the law, and the druids formed a professional learned order with status independent of the king. Their standing shows that authority in early Ireland was not held by rulers alone.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.