Isle of the Saints

Bitel draws upon a rich literary history of the Celtic saints and monastics to explain just how Irish society was formed by this interaction and also helped shape Irish Christianity. She is very diligent about her use of primary sources and does an excellent job supporting her thesis. In a sense, it was the early Irish monastics that shaped the very culture around them. The culture became so integrated that even the ancient holy pagan sites were adopted into Celtic Christianity. It is a must read for anyone interested in Irish Christianity. However, there is not a lot in this book about the spirituality of the saints and their wonderful method of evangelism among the Irish. It takes more of a sociological attempt to explain how Ireland became Christian. Overall a great work.