FOREIGN TESTIMONY:
At least one foreign writer bears witness of the fact that the pagan Irish possessed books. A Christian philosopher of the fourth century (some would place him as early as the second or third) whose name is Aethicus of Istria wrote a Cosmography of the World in which he states that on leaving Spain he hastened to Ireland where he spent some time “examining their books” (eorum volumina volvens).[20] Aethicus is not by any means complimentary. He calls the Irish sages unskilled and uncultivated teachers, but he speaks of the Spaniards in a similar strain. Possibly not understanding the Irish language he regarded all learning outside of Greece and Rome as barbarous and beneath notice. However, his statement proves that when he visited Ireland there were books at least a century before St. Patrick’s advent; it also shows that he found them in such abundance that he spent some time in examining them.