How the Irish Saved Civilization

How The Irish Saved Civilization
Author(s)	Thomas Cahill
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Subject(s)	History of Ireland
Publisher	Nan A. Talese
Publication date	1995
Pages	246
ISBN	0-385-41848-5
OCLC Number	30700982
Dewey Decimal	941.501 20
LC Classification	DA930.5 .C34 1995

How The Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe is a non-fiction historical book written by Thomas Cahill.

Cahill argues a case for the Irish people's critical role in preserving Western Civilization from utter destruction by the Huns and the Germanic tribes (Visigoths, Franks, Angles, Saxons, Ostrogoths, etc.). The book retells the story from the collapse of the Roman Empire and the pivotal role played by members of the clergy at the time. A particular focus is placed upon Saint Patrick and retells his early struggles through slavery; basically retelling portions of The Confession of Saint Patrick. Early parts of the book examine Ireland before Patrick and the role of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Particular focus is placed upon Saint Columba and the monks he trained and the monasteries he set up in the Hiberno-Scottish mission. In a sense, these holy men salvaged everything possible from the destruction of the Roman Empire.

Publication and reception

The book was published in 1995 however was criticized for the hyperbole, speculation and assertions of the author for his claims.

"Is Mr. Cahill's theory correct? One senses a touch of hyperbole when he says that the Irish "singlehandedly re-founded European civilization throughout the continent." There is a good deal of speculation in much of this. How, for example, do we really know if Patrick slept well or badly, especially since, as Mr. Cahill notes, we know very little about Patrick at all? There is also certain vagueness about the central assertion Mr. Cahill makes about the extent of the Irish contribution."Richard Berrnstein: The New York Times April 5, 1995

and in the same article;

"Mr. Cahill does in the end allow, for example, that Greek literature might have been preserved elsewhere even without the Irish, which makes their achievement seem less single-handed than Mr. Cahill elsewhere claimed it to be. The Hebrew and Greek Bibles survived independently of them. "Latin literature," he concludes, "would almost surely have been lost without the Irish," and he further asserts, but without much argument, that the national literatures of Europe might not have emerged had the Irish not forged the first great vernacular literature of Europe."Richard Berrnstein: The New York Times April 5, 1995

How the Irish Saved Civilization was first published in March 1995 and appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List for almost two years.