I am currently focusing on narrowing and developing my thesis ideas (link) related to St. Patrick’s Confessio and the later Lives/hagiographies about St. Patrick by Muirchu and Tirechan. I am particularly interested in looking at Christian conversion, Patrick’s portrayal of himself, and his portrayal in later writings. I’d like to use the similarities and contrasts between those latter two things to perhaps examine how later Irish Christian writers (Muirchu and Tirechan) viewed the history of conversion and how pre-Christian Irish traditions were understood, integrated, and/or rejected. Patrick’s qualities and “abilities” (for lack of better phrasing) change quite a bit between his own Confessio and the Lives that were written much later, and I am curious to investigate what those changes mean.
Research Questions:
- How is conversion to Christianity represented in the Confessio, and how are pre-Christian Irish authorities, religious leaders, and traditions spoken (or not spoken) about?
- What is Patrick’s relationship to Rome (both in his own writing and in later writing). and how does this relationship shape the way he sees his mission and how others view it?
- How does Patrick portray himself and his relationship to God and miracles in the Confessio?
- How do Muirchu and Tirechan (later Irish writers) portray Patrick’s relationship to God, miracles, and Irish authorities?
Your thesis idea is so cool! I am very excited to learn more as you share your findings with us, especially since the fluidity of Celtic mythology seems directly opposed to the rigidity of Christian doctrines (though my knowledge of Irish Christianity is mostly coming from 20th century James Joyce — there’s a pretty large temporal divide there). Coming from that 20th century understanding, I’m curious to know if the genre of the Confessio is part of the reason why there seemed to be so much self-flagellation later on. How was this attitude one of the appealing draws of Christianity meant to reel in converts? Also, if his Confessio was meant to reach a non-Christian audience, I think it would be worth looking into how difficult it would have been to understand his Latin.