The Irish Matryoshka: A History of Irish Monks in Medieval Europe [signed]

This book, the result of 18 years of research in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Italy, articulates a series of events that replicates the story of Ireland as an essential part of the European historical scene and not as some backwater island on the periphery of the then-known world. Accompany the intrepid Irish Monks as they fearlessly stride across European history bringing Lumen Christi to a continent in the grasp of homicidal Germanic warlords, mired in the doldrums of the Dark Ages. These monks, unafraid of Princes and Prelates established the proto-towns of Austria and Germany; their monasteries became the learning centers that created today s European culture. Authors Comments: During my expatriate years in Fulda, a small medieval city in the heart of Germany, I began to write The Story of Ireland, but, after composing a 700+ page manuscript, I realized it was (most likely) a re-hash of what was already written. My Fulda colleagues often chided me that Wessex Monks not Irish Monks converted the Germanic tribes to Christianity. Is it possible that their beliefs were ance, their chauvinism was swayed by the fact that Wessex born Saint Boniface, the Apostle to the Germans, is buried in that medieval city. Their incongruity provoked me to abandon my (excruciating long) manuscript and examine their line of argument in depth. My ability to speak and read German clearly helped considering that a substantial corpus of Irish history is only written in that language and never translated! Using a potpourri of French, German, and, Latin sources I found veritable treasure trove often contradictory and (very often) counterfeit data. After 18 years of diligence, I completed this highly detailed book on the history of the Irish monastic movement, from its inception, until it became (almost) passé to the 11th century scholars.