CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| [Chapter I.]—Civilization and Learning in Ireland in Pagan Times | 1 |
| [Chapter II.]—The Beginnings of Classical Learning | 15 |
| [Chapter III.]—Irish Monasticism | 30 |
| [Chapter IV.]—The Relation of the Irish Monastic Schools | |
| to the General Educational Situation (550–900 A.D.) | 71 |
| [Chapter V.]—Centres of Intellectual Life in Irish Monasteries | 93 |
| [Chapter VI.]—Course of Studies | 119 |
| [Chapter VII.]—Scope and Influence of Irish Scholarship | 171 |
| Bibliography:—(a) [Sources] | 195 |
| (b)[Secondary Authorities] | 198 |
“The ages which deserve an exact enquiry are those times (for such there were) when Ireland was the School of the West, the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature.”
—Extract from a letter written by Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709–1780) to Charles O’Connor (1710–1791), published in Edward O’Reilly’s Irish Writers, pp. i., ii. Dublin, 1770.
“Le peuple monastique des temps barbares, le peuple missionare, et destiné à apporter la lumière de la foi et de la science dans les ténèbres croissantes de l’Occident, c’est le peuple Irlandais dont on connait mieux les malheurs que les services et dont on n’a pas assez étudié l’étonnante vocation.”
—Ozanam, Frederic. La Civilisation Chrétienne chez les Francs, Ch. 4.