This gives an account of the problems which arose when the organization of the Christian church, imported from the urban bureaucracy of the Roman Empire, had to be adapted to the heroic society of early Ireland. How was church government in Ireland brought into line with the secular law, and were the changes made without protest? These questions are traced from early legal texts from the sixth century onwards, and show the gradual process of modification which culminated in the eighth century, when the church, now fully adjusted to Irish society, reached an unprecedented height of power. In the ninth century, the Viking raids and settlements provided new problems in relation to spiritual vitality of the Irish. This book traces the history of the church in Ireland up through the twelfth century. The main emphasis is on the church as an institution, but it also examines what Christianity meant to different people at different times and illustrates some of Ireland's contacts with England and the continent. -- Publisher description